Hunter's Map
by Veggiesaresilly
Summary: He looked down through coal black eyes at the pool of blood that surrounded me... I knew it was the end. All I wanted in that moment was to see the faces of my hero and my protector, so I could tell them goodbye. Full summary inside.
1. Angels on the Moon

**Hey all...I'm back! So My month long break was anything but relaxing. I really hate writing psych papers. Anywhoo, this is the new story I was talking about. I'm trying my hand at writing mystery/adventure, the genre that I adore to read. I don't know how good I am at writing action scenes so just bear with me as I work out the kinks.**

**All of the chaper titles are song titles...some of them refelct what happens the chapter, and some of them have nothing to do with the chapter...I just thought that the music fit the scene. I really hope you enjoy this one as much as you enjoyed the last one. This idea has been floating around in my head since mid May and it was a pain in the behind trying to finish my last story, simply because I was itching to knock this one out. I have about six chapters done so hopefully you won't have to wait as long for updates as you did with Good and Broken.**

**Summary: four years have passed since Eddie boy left and Bella has pieced herself back together. She's living happily as a senior at Washington State University. After completely leaving the mythological world behind, Bella gets thrown back in, in a way she never would have wanted. Six years later, Bella has been saving the human race from the ever increasing number of Vascilli- a race of vampires that have no control over the way they kill. She thought her job was winding down, but when the one Vascilli that has haunted her for years, abducts a member of the Royal family, Bella must do everything in her power to stop him from taking over the thrown and subsequently, the human world.**

**Okay...enough rambling...ONWARD...**

**DISCLAIMER: I own no songs and none of our favorite faces...I do however own Lucian...and that makes me smile** **

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****Hunter's Map**-----Fionn Regan

_Who was that fox caught in that trap, laid with hunter's map_

**Prologue**

**Angels on the Moon-----**Thriving Ivory

_I want a sunburn, just to know that I'm alive_

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There have been countless stories of love and happiness. Boy meets girl, girl falls for boy, and everyone lives happily ever after. My story isn't like that. My story is quite different. Oh yes there was love and happiness once…maybe twice. But not anymore. There would be no happy endings for me…at least not the one I had envisioned. But there would be an ending.

The feeling of death is an unimaginable horror. I thought that I had felt death when my best friends moved away-leaving me alone-and I knew I had felt death once. But this, this feeling was beyond any of the torture that I thought I had known.

He looked down through coal black eyes at the pool of blood that surrounded me. And when the demon's lips pulled back from his teeth, I knew it was the end. All I wanted in that moment was to see the faces of my hero and my protector... so I could tell them goodbye.

But through this horror, a strange sense of calm determination enveloped me. I couldn't let it happen this way. It wasn't supposed to end like this…me bleeding on the floor alone. Death was inevitable one way or another. So why not do it on my terms…

He stepped closer and when his steeled toed boot came into contact with my stomach, a shrieking cry rang out through the abandoned warehouse.

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**Okay, so this was just the prologue. I will probably post chapter 1 later on tonight or sometime tomorrow...probably when I get back from class. **

**Leave me a review and get a lookydoo at what's up next...Toodles...**


	2. So Long Astoria

**Okay, so I decided to give you chapter 1 early after realizing that I didn't have to go to the review session for my Personality final. You got to love Dead Week. So here is numba two. Hope you like. By the way, I have no issues with the Greek system, so sorry if a part of this chapter offends ayone...it was not my intention.**

**I switch POV's during this story so if there is no POV indicator, that means it is Bella's pov. I don't know why I didn't put it in there, but oh well...too late now...ONWARD...**

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of our favorite faces...but I do own Lucian...and that makes me smile.**

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****Hunter's Map**-----Fionn Regan

_Who was that fox caught in that trap, laid with hunter's map_

**So Long Astoria**-----The Ataris

_When this hourglass has filtered out, it's final grain of sand, I'll raise my glass to the memories we had_

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"Alright, on our next meeting I want all of you to have picked out your subject for the final report," Professor McNally shouted over the ruckus of spirals being put into backpacks and shuffling papers. "If you don't like any of the species we have discussed so far this semester just look throughout the text until you find something. There are a few creatures in there that we won't discuss in this class and there are also a few that the text barely covers. I guarantee you that with enough time spent looking, you all will find something to research. See you all on Monday."

I waited patiently until Professor McNally had finished his speech before stuffing my spiral into my backpack. His lecture had gone over five minutes but this was my last class of the day so I didn't mind. Besides, Mythological Lore was my favorite class this semester. The lectures were insightful and the class was dreadfully easy. But I guess spending high school running around with a group of vampires and having a werewolf as a best friend put me at a slight advantage.

And speaking of the werewolf, Jacob was currently tapping his foot in impatience next to my desk. "Clam down mutton man, I'm moving."

"You do realize that I am a werewolf and not a sheep right," he said quietly as we walked out the door and into the currently congested hallway.

"Of course I know that you idiot, but I don't know what you call wolf meat, so for now just go with it."

"Whatever you say Bells," He rolled his eyes as he slung his arm over my shoulder. "Are we off to the gym next?"

"Heck yes we are! I need to beat that butterfly time or Coach is going to kick me off the relay, which would just suck on so many levels considering how close it is to Nationals." I had been training for this race for the entire year and if I didn't break 1:00 for my 100 split, Chloe Perkins was going to get my spot...and that was just blasphemy!

Apparently Jacob had finished his routine of "lifting too much weight just so the girls could ogle him some more", because when I pulled into the wall after a brutal 1500 free set, he was standing at the top of my lane. "Did the girls get their fill," I quipped cheekily just to piss him off.

"As a matter of fact they did, Michaela Phelps!"

I raised my eyebrow at his Olympic heroes word play. "Subtle. Are you going to clock me this time?"

He just nodded and grabbed a stopwatch off of one of the lifeguard stands and motioned me over to the blocks. I crouched over in my starting stance and waited for his cue.

I could feel the water break across my skin as I catapulted off the blocks. I was thoroughly warmed up from my workout so I had a feeling that would work to my advantage.

Each turn was executed with near perfect precision and with each push off the wall, I felt my self shoot farther along in my streamline. And when I hit the wall and looked up at my friend, I didn't even have to ask if I beat it. His huge grin told me everything. "There is no way you're getting kicked off the team if you can swim it at :58 in practice next week." :58...sweet deal!

After taking care of business in the locker room, Jacob and I made our way back to the dorms. Now our dorm rooms weren't lavish by any sense but mine was at least bigger than my bedroom at home. Orton Hall, when it was first built was designed to have double rooms but a few years ago, they were changed to singles. We rode the elevator up to the 11th floor and said a quick goodbye as we headed to our respective wings. I heard one of the guys on our floor give him a boisterous greeting before the door shut behind me. Morons!

Shannon waved as she passed me as she headed for the shower. She was one of the only girls that I had made friends with at WSU. I don't relate well to girls so it was nice to meet someone like me.

As I was putting my key into my door I caught sight of a note written on my dry erase board informing me that I had been invited to a Lambda Sig frat party tonight. Awesome. That would be one party that I would be forgoing. It was common knowledge that if you got invited to a Lambda party, you wouldn't be getting home until around seven in the morning and you would have a fuzzy memory of the night before.

Date raping aside, the reason why I didn't want to go was because my ex was a Lambda Sig and I wasn't too keen on seeing him anytime soon. It just so happens that the first reason why I wouldn't be attending the party is the reason why I dumped him in the first place, except I was conscious when it almost happened. Jacob had been in attendance at the party and when I didn't come down from Craig's room in ten minutes as I said I would, Jacob plowed through the door effectively saving me. He would forever be my protector from that night on.

I hadn't dated since which was understandable. That trauma had made me lose my trust in the male population and I just didn't want to subject myself to the hurt again. Even though Jacob spent almost every waking minute with me, I still found myself feeling lonely at times. And when I got lonely, I thought back on the three other boys that I could trust my life with.

I missed them all the time lately. And I didn't understand why. I knew the reason why they felt they had to leave, but it didn't make the hurt any less when they finally did. But the worst part about it was that they didn't even try to keep in contact with me. It was expected from Rosalie...no real loss there and Jasper was not that reliable at times. But I at least thought I would hear something from Emmet and Alice, the other two Cullen kids I liked the best.

And as much as it hurt that they never called, it was probably best that they didn't...it would most likely hurt too much.

I was pulled out of my trip down memory lane by a knock on my door. After yelling that it was open, I heard Jacob plop down onto my unmade bed. "I take it you're going to skip the Lambda Sig party tonight?"

I just raised an eyebrow at him and replied, "Do you even need to ask that? If I showed up, I guarantee you that Craig would try to force his tongue down my throat the instant he saw me."

"Yeah and you'd deck him for it right before I would rip his nuts off."

His coarse language bothered me at times. "Charming."

After taking the clue he apologized. "Well I heard there's a party at Thompson Flatts tonight. Want to check it out?"

Truth be told, I didn't. I was excited for this paper and I wanted to get my topic sorted out first thing. That way I would only have one chapter out of my Child Development class to read over the weekend. It was perfect because I had planned to make the mind numbingly boring drive across the state to go home to see Charlie this weekend. "I'm going to pass Jake. I want to get this topic sorted out so I can go visit Charlie tomorrow. It's been awhile since I saw him."

"That's right, you spent Christmas with Renée. But you can choose your topic at your dad's too you know." When he saw that I wouldn't budge on the issue he got up and walked to the door. "Whatever, you tool; I'll eat your free pizza for you!"

"Good because we all know what it would do if I ate it." I heard his booming laugh through the closed door. What a dork!

I sat down at my desk with my Myth text in my lap as I waited for my laptop to boot up. High speed internet my ass! Sometimes I hated WSU, but I refused to put up with another four years of Jessica and Lauren bitching about me and Mike trailing along behind me at UW. I hated the brutal winters that Pullman had, but if it meant that I wouldn't have to put up with Newton, I'd take them.

I had just flipped to the section on vampires in my text when the internet finally loaded. One draw back of this class was that whoever wrote the text got his reference on vampires from Ann Rice. Seriously, reading chapter 6 was like reading Interview with A Vampire. If I wanted to use my friends as a subject then I would have to resort to calling them up because the web results were almost exactly like my text…except for that one site about Carlisle…that one was actually pretty accurate.

But I wanted to make this paper a challenge since the overall class hadn't been. Vampires were out, as were werewolves. I certainly wasn't going to write on the same topic that Jacob was. Yet again, he would get to coast by. It was a little unfair really.

After a half hour searching online for something interesting and coming up short, I closed my laptop and took my book over to my bed. Maybe if I skimmed through the stuff we hadn't covered then I might find something. Hopefully.

I spent the next forty five minutes reading about what seemed like the rejects from Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them, when I decided that I would just have to suck up my pride and call my once best friends for help. Digging through the tousled sheets on my bed for my phone hidden somewhere in them, my eyes caught sight of something on the open page in my book. _"While werewolves are simply a nuisance to the vampire, the human protector is the vampire's true rival." _That sounded promising. Maybe I wouldn't have to make that call after all.

I flipped to the index and looked up Human Protector. Nothing except a side note that read _"See page 678"_. 678 was the second to last page of actual text in the book. I quickly flipped to the correct page and was met with a small section on very rare creatures. I read over the names and got a chuckle at some of them. But the last one listed pulled my attention.

"_The Human Protector is a hybrid species: half human and half something unknown. Very little is known about this creature which is why it is so unheard of. What is known is quite shocking. _

"_With the fall of Byzantium, and the subsequent bloodshed that followed, a group of surviving Romans scientists banded together to devise a plan to keep their dwindling families and cohorts safe. At the time, what they created was the greatest known source of power to ever walk the earth. Those affluent scientists created the first race of blood drinkers, better known as the Ethos vampire. _

_However, this species of vampire was unlike the traditional, well known version. While blood was their form of sustenance, this race was taught to feed off of animals rather than the typical human."_

I flipped to the last page and groaned when it turned up blank. Seriously, I would be putting "the need for a better book" in my class evaluation at the end of the semester. This was just ridiculous. I finally find something that is horribly intriguing and I can't write about it because the damn text is a piece of garbage!

I shuffled back to my computer and again waited for the internet to load. After bringing up Google, I punched in a whole bunch of different key words: Roman Scientists, Byzantium, and Ethos Vampire. Pinning all my hopes on this last entry, I combined Ethos Vampire and Human Protector and hit the enter button.

Two entries were returned to me. The first was that site about Carlisle that I found back when I was trying to figure out what the Cullen's were. That one sure was helpful! I took a closer look at the second entry and my hopes perked up a bit. The title seemed promising _"Myths, Vampires and the Durang"_.

I clicked the link and started reading the page. "Fall of Byzantium, got that…Roman scientists, been there…animal drinking vampire, yeah yeah yeah…" I mumbled as my eyes skimmed down the page. About half way down, the text seemed to seamlessly pick up where my book had left off.

"_The Ethos vampire was used as a defense weapon to safeguard the families of its creators. Once its fighting power was tested, the scientists quickly created more. It went on for years and more and more vampires were born. But as with any genetic tampering, a mutation occurred in a few of the new born vampires and all of the progress these scientists made was lost. _

_The mutation vampires "went rouge" so to say and mass killings erupted in the Mediterranean. Thousands were slaughtered, including those affluent scientists in just a few short weeks. Not knowing how to control the thirst, these "rouge" vampires were sloppy in their killing, leaving death and more new born vampires in their wake. _

_The years that followed were some of the bloodiest in Earth's history. The Ethos species scattered the globe to areas of heavy population to protect the humans, as was their purpose. But there were too many new vampires to overtake. Slowly but surely, the Ethos went into hiding. _

_This may seem like a lesson on vampire lore but all of it is just the back story for the real star of this information. In times of horrendous bloodshed, it has been said that one will rise up to be the savior of mankind…the Human Protector…the Durang. There is only one per generation and he will only rise up in the direst of times. The last known Durang was during the time of the French Revolution. Born with incredible speed and agility, the Durang upstages the Ethos Vampire in every way. _

_Because of the power the Durang possesses, he is constantly a target, be it from vampires or educated governments wishing to study him. Because of this, the Durang must stay hidden and remain free of emotional attachments." _

I continued reading well into the night and learned some pretty awesome stuff. The Durang was basically a hybrid vampire; but with some benefits. He had all the powers a vampire had, but he was able to sleep, manipulate other vampire's powers and he didn't only have to drink blood to survive. One or two fills of blood every month and then the rest of the time, human food sustained him.

While the Durang's life was solitary to keep him safe, he did keep with him one companion. This was the part that I found most interesting. Carlisle had told me that the Werewolf was the enemy of the vampire, but if what I was reading was true, then he was sort of wrong. The werewolf was born to protect the Durang. So if the Durang was born to help the Ethos vampire protect the humans, then didn't that put the vampire and werewolf on the same team? I'd have to ask Jacob about it later to be sure.

I bookmarked the site in my favorites and shut off my computer. I quickly brushed my teeth and crawled under my warm covers. The TV was on for background noise but I didn't even really register it. I was so wrapped up in this new myth that it almost reached obsessive levels. I simply had to find out more. But it was more than just wanting it for educational sake. It was almost like a compulsion and that once I knew everything; my life would click into place.

Quickly brushing that thought off as crazy, I hunkered down and fell asleep. My dreams that night were filled with bloodshed and heinous vampire battles. But the scariest thing about them was that I was right in the middle, fighting alongside my topaz eyed comrades.

* * *

The drive was dull…no doubt about it. The radio cut in an out for the first hour and the stupid cd decided to get stuck in the player again. So I got stuck listening to Boys Like Girls three times through before the stereo finally decided to cooperate.

I stopped off in the Tri-Cities to refuel and grab some lunch before getting back on highway 240. I had decided to drive to Seattle because I wanted to hit up the fake purse guys down on Pike street before catching the ferry to take me to the peninsula. I had told Shannon about the purse guys and she asked me to snag her something the next time I was in Seattle.

By the time I got down to Pike Street, the guys were about to close down for the day. I perused over their stash for a bit before I found an acceptable looking Chanel clutch. I forked over the fifty bucks before hightailing it back to my jeep. I had exactly thirty minutes to drive my car onto the ferry before it took off from the harbor.

I ended up having about ten minutes to spare so I found a coffee cart and took my drink to the deck of the ferry. It was a bit foggy out and I got a horrible flash of that episode of Grey's Anatomy, but shrugged it off easily.

An hour later I was cruising down the familiar rain soaked highway leading me back home. I saw the cruiser in the driveway as I pulled up in front of the house. I grabbed my backpack and duffel off the back seat and hurried my way up the walk. I heard the sound of a game coming from the TV when I opened the front door. Some things never change. "Who's winning Dad?"

I heard the sound die and not five seconds later Charlie appeared around the corner. "What the hell are you doing home Bells?" He asked happily, coming over to give me a hug. Apparently Charlie learned how to be affectionate after I left for school.

"I just decided that I needed to come home for the weekend. I don't have any classes on Monday, so I figured I'd have enough time to make the drive worth it," I replied, disentangling myself from his arms. "Have you eaten yet?"

"No; I actually just got back from the reservation a half hour ago. I wanted to check the scores real quick before making something. You hungry? We can go get something."

"I've been in the car all day, Dad," I said through a yawn.

"Well here, sit down and I'll fix you something," He said turning for the kitchen before I stopped him.

My eyebrows raised and I laughed, "Dad, we both know you won't fix anything edible. Let me make dinner." Before he could protest further, something on the TV caught his eye. He looked at me sheepishly before I shoved him in the direction of the living room.

I kept dinner simple. Charlie had some chicken patties in the freezer, so I added some sliced deli ham and Swiss cheese to the chicken and mixed up some of the mustard I knew he loved. We had a nice chat about how things were down at the station. Nothing of interest had happened except a couple of the guys pulling a prank on the new dispatcher. I filled him in on school and my needing to break 1:00 to stay on the relay. He always got so proud when I told him stuff about swimming. Apparently, my participating in a sport was something he always wanted.

I let him take care of the dishes before heading up to my room. I pulled out my lap top and checked my e-mail. There was a message from Jacob letting me know that I missed some pretty bad karaoke at the Thompson Flatts party last night. I sighed in disappointment because making fun of bad karaoke was one of our past times. I shot a quick e-mail to Shannon letting her know that she owed me fifty bucks before reopening the article about the Durang.

I read through the whole thing again and jotted down some notes on each key section of the paper. I tried a few more searches just to see if any other site might have mentioned the Durang somewhere, but I came up short. I would have to get creative if I had any hope of finding some more info on this elusive creature. The sight I had gave me enough to complete the paper but I needed to have more than one source.

I fell asleep that night and again was plagued by vampire battles. Except this one was different. My vampire comrades were no where to be found and I stood face to face with the most sinister looking thing I had ever seen. It stared me down for a bit before lunging for my throat. I woke up to a bright morning, right as its teeth sank into my neck.

On Sunday, I felt the need to take a stroll through the woods behind the house, and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out where the compulsion came from. I hated these woods; they were dreadfully scary at night, let alone the day time…and they were teeming with bugs. Did I mention how much I hate bugs…almost more than I hate these woods.

But for some strange reason, walking through them didn't give me the heebie-jeebies this time. I only lasted for about a half an hour before deciding it was time to start heading back; Charlie was supposed to be getting home soon from somewhere I didn't catch and I wanted to make him one last "real" meal before letting him fend for himself for who knows how long.

I had been walking back for maybe five minutes before I got the sharpest sense of someone watching me. I whipped my head around only to find nothing but brown and green bracken. Clearly, the missing heebie-jeebies were creeping up on me. My feet quickened their pace and once I heard the sloshing sound of the creek, I knew I was okay. But not two seconds later, the feeling came back, and I would've bet every last dime in my bank account that when my head whipped around for the second time, I saw a pair of yellow eyes staring out at me from the underbrush. From then on out, my swift walk turned into a light jog…anything to get me out of there faster.

By the time Charlie returned home, all the anxiety that I had been feeling melted away. Yes it's childish, but my daddy was home to keep me safe. So I'm a five year old at heart…sue me! Dinner wasn't done quite yet so I sent him in to the other room and immediately heard the news come on.

It was only then, after washing off my hands that I noticed the long scrape running from my wrist to my elbow. That was weird…I didn't remember scraping myself on anything today…or recently for that matter. And this scrape looked to be a couple days old. It was raised so it had scarred, but the light pink tinge suggested that I had done this a few days ago.

By the time I was done inspecting myself for further previously unnoticed damage, the stove buzzer went off signaling Charlie that it was time for dinner. The noise from the living room died and he appeared in the kitchen ten seconds later. I made sure to pull my sleeves down to cover the scar as I brought the spaghetti to the table. Just because I hadn't noticed my wound, didn't mean Charlie wouldn't. He had a keen eye to spot injuries that I may have inflicted on myself. I guess after eight years of taking me to the hospital routinely, he was bound to pick up on these kinds of things.

It was only when I sat down and piled a small helping of noodles onto my plate that I noticed that I wasn't even the slightest bit hungry…which was weird because after getting out of the woods not even an hour ago, I was starving. Charlie looked up at me after a bit of my silence and looked at me curiously. "Bells, are you not hungry?"

"Not really, which is strange because a little bit ago I was," I replied leaning back in my chair; puzzlement written all over my face. "I think I'm going to head up to bed. I need to get an early start tomorrow."

"Okay sweetie; just wake me up before you leave so I can give you a hug and say bye," He said turning his attention back to his plate. I made it to the top of the stairs when I caught a glimpse of him skulking out to the living room with his plate in hand. I loved it when he tried to be sneaky; it always gave me a chuckle…he was just so bad at it.

I had been asleep for maybe four hours when it happened. I was having the most pleasant dream of stuffing Craig's face into a blender, when I was ripped from my slumber by the most gut wrenching pain I have ever felt. I pulled my trash can out of its corner and promptly threw up. A few seconds later, another slash of pain ripped through me and I doubled over and toppled out of bed. Through the pain, I was able to pull myself along the floor to the bathroom where I spent the next two hours switching between having my head in the toilette, and having it pressed onto the floor in pain.

Sometime in the night, I found my way back to bed because when I woke up feeling like I had been run over by 80 garbage trucks, I was in my room. I cautiously climbed out of bed wary of setting off another round of puking. I glanced in my mirror and cringed at what was reflected back at me. My hair was out of control and matted in clumps, my eyes were sunken in and my face was pale and sticky from the constant sweating that took place last night. As if I already didn't look bad enough.

I shoved my stuff into my duffel bag and walked down the hall to Charlie's room. He was already up and he took one look at my face and just shook his head. He gave me a hug and wished me luck on the road in my weakened condition.

I was lucky to make it out to the less populated portion of the state before the pain ripped through me again. Every five minutes it felt like someone was twisting a serrated knife into my stomach. I was able to muscle my way through the stabbing for another two hours before it just got unbearable. By the time I reached the Tri-Cities, I had to pull over. I proceeded to the backseat of my car where I laid face down on the leather. I stayed there, taking very deep breaths for about a half an hour before the pain dulled back to manageable levels.

When I pulled into the parking lot outside my dorm, I felt the need to throw up again. Some sorority girls walked by my car while I was hanging out the window puking my guts out. They looked at me like I had the plague, and for all I knew, that's what I had. As another wave of pain ripped through me, I heard them run off and one say quite loudly, "Someone needs to cut back on the partying." Yeah, like they didn't just get home from some kegger where they probably had lots of sex with random guys. Bitches.

I ran into Jacob in the hallway as I was getting into the elevator. He was getting off of it clearly on his way out to play basketball with a few of his buddies; if his gym shorts didn't tip me off, the orange ball his friend was holding would have. He took one look at my ashy pallor and his eyes got huge. "What the hell happened to you Bella?" He asked following me into the elevator. I guess his game would have to wait.

By that time I was too weak to even stand anymore, and my legs gave out from under me. Jacob was able to catch me before I hit the floor. He carried me down the hall to my room and stuffed his large hand in my pocket for my key. Now normally this would be offensive, but as it was, I was passed out and couldn't really get the key for him.

I could feel him tuck me into bed and crawl in under the sheets next to me. After that, everything went black. I woke up a few hours later and found Jacob sitting at my desk messing around on my computer. Apparently, he had gone out to my car and brought all my crap upstairs for me. I would have to thank him later.

He noticed me stirring and jetted to my side. His eyes showed concern that I had never seen before. So I launched into the story about how I went for a walk in the woods, the weird feeling of being watched, the fleeting glimpse of the yellow eyes, and how I woke up puking last night. He got especially worried when he found out that I had to pull off the road for a half hour.

After I finished my story, he took it upon himself to rummage through my dresser. He pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a track jacket and threw them at me. I knew he was planning on taking me to Hall Health and I just didn't have the energy to argue with him. But when I doubled over and threw up again in my trash can, he took me to the emergency room instead.

After an agonizing three hours, we left the hospital with a diagnosis of nothing. They found nothing wrong with me. I guess uncontrollable puking and stabbing pain is normal. Jacob was fuming, clearly pissed off that they did nothing for me. He was so cute when he was angry.

We made it back up to my room and he tucked me into bed again. "Listen Bella, I need to go to the library to pick out my topic for the Myth paper. Do you think you'll be alright without me for a while?" His concern made my heart melt.

"I think I can manage," I croaked out. "But why do you need to go to the library? You already have all the info for the paper trapped in your little wolfy mind."

He grinned at my sarcasm. "Yes I know that darling, but I need sources and they need to be accurate. I'm not using the book because it is a piece of garbage."

"I know what you mean," I mumbled stuffing my face into my pillow.

He opened the door and turned back to face me. "I will be gone two hours tops. I'll bring you back some pedia lite when I come back. I love you."

"Love you too," I replied, before promptly passing out.

**

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**Alice Pov**

I watched in horror as she ran through the forest away from the piercing gaze of a man I couldn't recognize. He looked to be normal enough but he exuded a raw sense of power that I had never felt before. In my mind I breathed a sigh of relief when she made it back to her house…whoever it was had apparently given up his pursuit. The image wavered and morphed into another picture and this one was worse than the last. She was lying contorted on her bed; her back so arched that her head was pushing far down into the mattress. I could sense the rapidness of her heart and the thick sheen of sweat that dewed on her forehead was startling. After what seemed like forever of her thrashing around in unbearable pain, her body went lax and her heart stopped.

The vision went out right as someone draped a the bed sheets over her body, and when my eyes popped open, I let out the loudest scream I think I have ever produced and I fell to the floor in agony. In a flash everyone was there. They were all staring down at me; eyes about ready to pop out of their skulls and all I could do was curl in on myself and dry sob.

I felt his calm wash over me before he even sat down to hold onto me. However, Jasper was going to have to dish out a hell of a lot more tranquil waves to calm me down from what I had just seen. "What did you see Alice," Jasper and Edward said in unison. Everyone else just looked down at me in a mixture of fear and perplexed confusion.

The sobs were too strong for me to form anything coherent. "Bella…she…"

"Bella what, Alice. What happened to her!?" Edward demanded. For as hard as this was on me, it was going to be ten times worse for him.

My brother is a moron. Jasper has one little slip up and Edward makes us pack up everything and hightail it out of doge. And his reasoning behind it was laughable. He claimed it was too dangerous for her…what a load of shit. Bella was in no danger and probably wouldn't ever be again…at least not due to mythical reasons. No, Edward's real reason for wanting to leave was because he is the biggest coward the world has ever known.

And as much as I was upset about him breaking her heart, I didn't say anything. But when he made us pack up everything and move, was when I started hating him. He took away my best friend. I guess it wasn't enough hurting Bella and himself, no, he had to bring someone else pain too. ASS!

But what made me wish that he would succumb to some rare unknown vampire disease, was when he told all of us that we were not allowed to have any contact with her, and were not allowed to interfere with her life in anyway. He saved the last part for me personally.

I didn't find out until much later his method for getting her to let him go. That had been a constant puzzle for me since we left. I don't even remember how the subject turned in that direction but when Rosalie let it slip that Edward said it was Bella's fault that he was leaving, I was afraid that I might just have to be on the run for the next few years. If I was going to go to prison, it was going to be for shoplifting shoes, not for murdering my brother.

I could barely contain my rage against him after that. At one point, Jasper and I had to live separately from the family because I was a hairs breadth away from killing him. After a few weeks I had calmed down enough to be civil and we were able to return home.

That night I told him how much I hated him and that I wished he would go choke on something. I stopped talking to him after that. And judging by the calendar that Emmet has kept for some unknown and twisted reason I will never understand; it has been two years, four months and 25 days since I have last spoken to Edward.

I don't hate him anymore, but I still refuse to speak to him just because I'm stubborn and I don't want to give him the satisfaction. Plus, I want Emmet to loose the bet he made with Jasper. If I could hold out for another five days, Jasper would be using his winnings to buy me that little condo in the Swiss Alps I've had my eye on.

I don't hate him anymore, because he doesn't need anymore hate. Edward hates himself enough for the both of us. None of us ever could or ever will understand why he chooses to be in pain. After he "left her to rot" as Emmet so eloquently put it, Edward closed himself off. He refused to even mention anything that might somehow lead the conversation in her direction. But the rest of us still talked about her all the time. Whenever any of us would wonder about how she was doing, Edward would just reply that he wished she would move on and find someone more deserving of her love. Like I said before, my brother is a moron!

But looking up at him now, I could see just how much he still cared for her, even if he denied it. This was going to kill him. "What happened to Bella, Alice," he almost growled at me.

"She's…dead. She's dead," my voice broke and the dry sobbing continued. Edward let out the loudest howl of agony I think I have ever heard and his knees buckled to the floor, causing him to land right next to me.

They all converged on us and poor Jasper had to move to the other side of the large room just to get away from all the agony. But when I looked over at him, I could tell he felt just as awful as the rest of us. I felt a soft hand come to rest on the nape of my neck and I looked up into the heartbroken eyes of my mother. "Alice…when…" Esme chocked out before the sobs overtook her too.

"I don't know. All I know is that she was running from some man and then the image turned into her lying contorted on her bed. Once her heart stopped I lost the picture."

"Did it look as if someone had done anything to her to cause it," She asked which caused Edward to growl again.

I touched his shoulder to steady him. "No, I couldn't see anything that would lead us in that direction, but I was kind of focused on the fact that she was dying. I guess I really didn't take the time to search out a cause."

No one said anything else…no one could. The grief was too strong. One by one, they each left the room to deal with her death in anyway they knew how. And when I found myself alone once again in the family room, I finally allowed myself to grieve how I wanted to.

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**Like I said before, I have no issues with the Greek System. I'm sorry if I offended anyone, it was not my intention. Review and get a lookydoo at chapter 2...TOODLES...**


	3. Devastation and Reform

**Sorry that it is short...and late, I have about six chapters done but I am having a bit of a struggle getting down the next scene. This is my first time writting action sequences and I am still trying to wrap my mind around it. I want to give myself some leeway incase this problem lasts longer than I think it is going to last. Anywhoo...here is chapter two...ONWARD...**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of our favorite characters...but I do own Lucian...and that puts a smile on my face**

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**Hunter's Map**-----Fionn Regan

_Who was that fox caught in that trap, laid with humter's map_

**Devastation and Reform**-----Relient K

_It's taken me down this road, a road down which I swore i'd never go_

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My dreams were weird to say the least. Nothing really happened in them. It was just a flat black expanse with random fluorescent colors arcing in lazy shapes behind my eyes. The colors were soothing and I was just getting used to them when they were suddenly ripped away. And when my eyes opened, I let out a scream.

Sitting there in the corner of my room was the most gorgeous man I had ever laid eyes on. His skin was an earthy tone and his black hair sat tight to his head in tiny braids. But what caused me to scream, apart from waking up to a stranger in my room, was his eyes…they were the exact shade of yellow that I had caught the glimpse of back in the woods. All of this took place in the course of a second and before anyone could hear my scream, his hand was pressed tightly over my mouth. He stared down at me; the look in his eyes was fierce. "If I remove my hand, you must promise not to scream again. That sound hurts my ears."

If I wasn't freaked out beyond my wits, I would have sat there in awe of his accent. It sounded Middle-Eastern and by the color of his skin, I ventured to guess that he was Egyptian. His hand was still on my mouth so all I could do was nod my head. Once my mouth was free I asked the first thing that popped into my mind. "How the hell did you get into my room?" Perhaps I should have asked him who he was, but Jacob had locked my door before he left and I was living on the 11th floor. The feat of him getting into my room was mind boggling.

"I have many talents…scaling the sides of buildings just happens to be one of them," He said with a slight smirk on his lips that caused my heart to flutter.

He was doing something with his eyes that only one other person had been able to do…and the effect was the same. My next question came out breathy and was laced with desire. "Who are you?"

He looked down at me and the longing that I saw in his eyes was anything but subtle. His voice was low and held the same amount of desire that mine had held; only he was able to keep himself in check. "My name is Kafele, and I was what you are…or what you are to become Isabella. I trust you have experienced the sickness."

The sickness…um yeah I had been sick. He was so cryptic that I was having trouble understanding him. What did he mean _what I am to become_? How had he known that I had been sick and how did he know my name? He could see the confusion in my eyes and took it upon himself to explain. "Do not fret my child, I will explain everything in due time. But first I want to tell you a story," He closed his eyes as if he was trying to remember something important. "Hundreds of years ago, the first of a new race was born. His name was Tupo, and he possessed unearthly power. But growing up, he was like how I used to be, and like how you are now…small, and weak. And in the course of two days, he gained extraordinary abilities.

"Since he was the first, he had no idea what was going on inside his body. But he could feel everything changing, and it frightened him. He also didn't understand why all of a sudden, his body decided to change. He was so frightened by what had happened to him that he hid himself away from his family and the rest of his village. Tupo spent the next six months exploring his new abilities and harnessing his power. Clearly he had been blessed by The Creator to be bestowed with such gifts. But one day while he was out hunting, he was overcome with the desire to drink his kill's blood. After, he holed himself up in his cave and stayed for two months.

"One his first venture out into the world beyond his cave, Tupo encountered a man who could change his shape at will. Another outcast like himself, Tupo offered the young man refuge in his cave. He learned that the boy's name was Juki and that he had been exiled from his village after his first shift. Tupo explained his own situation to Juki and the two struck up an unbreakable bond. They both vowed to protect each other from any danger because outcasts need to stick together.

"Not too long after was when they learned the truth. They were walking back from a hunt with a Leopard dragging behind them when they encountered a beautiful woman crouching in some underbrush near the mouth of their cave. Fearful of what she was-no woman of such beauty could be human- they sprang on her and demanded answers.

"She calmly explained that her name was Araida and that she was one of the Ethos, bred to protect mankind and that she had been searching for them for the last year. She explained to Tupo all of the abilities that he possessed and told him that he was the one to save the human race. For the past two years, the Vascilli, another species like herself had been rising in numbers and had been causing the earth terrible bloodshed.

"The Vascilli was the mutant race of her kind and it was the Ethos' job to eliminate the problem. But the Vascilli possessed sharper honed skills that the Ethos had yet to master which was why they needed help."

He paused in his story and I took the time to interrupt him. "Tupo was the first Durang?"

Kafele was taken off guard by my question, "You know of the Durang?"

"I'm doing a research paper on him. How do you know of the Durang? There is like next to no information about him."

Kafele looked long and hard at me, trying to decide if it was the time to tell me the truth. I had interrupted his story…maybe he wanted to finish first before cluing me in to what all of this was. His voice was soft and flooded me with so much lust that I had to hold myself back from jumping on him. "Well, it seems that you know the back story already, so I can skip the rest. Mankind is in the midst of another genocide at the hands of the Vascilli. Just last week in Madrid, 70,000 people were slaughtered." I had heard about that on the news the other day. The Spanish government was leaning towards chemical warfare as the cause. "What you don't know Isabella, is that in 26 hours, you will take my place…you will become the new Durang."

The air was squished out of my lungs and it felt like my brain was about to explode. What he was saying wasn't possible…there was no way that I could be the Durang. For one, I was a girl and it clearly stated in the research that the Durang was male. Plus, I wasn't powerful, or coordinated like the Durang was…I could barely walk down the stairs without face planting at the bottom. Clearly Kafele had made a mistake. My bout of pain and puking last night and this morning was just some freak stomach virus that would be gone tonight. "I think you have the wrong person…"

But he cut me off before I could finish. "Did you ever wonder why you were suddenly compelled to join a sports team and why you are so good at it now?" I had wondered about that, but I just chalked it up to the fact that swimming didn't require that much balance. "Did you ever notice things about yourself that were completely different from the rest of your peers; like the fact that you shy away from human contact and only count one person as a true companion?" Damn, that was two. This guy was good…but he couldn't be right. Could he?

"I still think you've got the wrong person," I said slowly, shaking my head.

"Then answer me this," He leveled his gaze on my face before putting his hand on my cheek in a soothing manner. "Did you ever notice any strange markings on the wrist of your mother or father?"

Okay, he had me there. Renée had this weird spiral shaped scar on her left wrist. She had told me that she had been born with it but I always assumed she was just trying to cover up some act of youthful stupidity on her part. Taking my silence as an affirmative, Kafele looked smugly at me. "Did it look like this?" He held out his left wrist to me, and etched into his skin was a larger version of the spiral scar of my mother's. "One last thing Isabella, and then I will leave you…show me your left arm."

He took my arm in his hand and traced the scar with his fingers. I jumped a bit at the coldness of his fingers and felt my eyes pop out when I noticed that my long scar had spiraled overnight. I now had the exact shape on my left wrist that Kafele had on his. I looked up into his kind eyes and breathed out, "I guess you're right."

"Don't be frightened my pet. Unlike Tupo, you have me to teach you what you need to know. My dear, you have been blessed with an honor that only very few have received. But with this honor, comes a curse. From now until the war is over, you must live a life of isolation, and you must hone in the abilities that you are about to receive. The continuation of mankind is resting on your soon to be very capable shoulders my darling. Embrace what you have been given," he stopped short as a key jingled in my door. Jacob had apparently returned from the library. "I will be back tonight to watch over your transformation and tomorrow night we will start your training. If that is your partner at the door, it would be best to fill him in on what has transpired here. He will need to be ready to protect you at all costs because tomorrow night, you will be forever hunted Isabella." And then he was gone. Just like my vampire buddies, Kafele flew out the window into the night, just as Jacob opened the door to my room.

* * *

He was shocked to say the least, but Jacob took the news of my coming transformation better than I had imagined him too. I had been so scared to tell him because the minute he opened the door to my room, he smelled Kafele and it sent him into a rage. He had to use all of his strength to keep his human form and when he finally calmed down enough he immediately asked me how I was still alive after having a vampire in my room.

I told him everything after that in hopes of keeping his temper in check. That was the one thing about Jacob that I wasn't fond of. He had the hardest time controlling himself when he got angry. He didn't do it often, but when something really made him mad, he was likely to explode…literally. So I rushed in my explanation of what Kafele was. He didn't believe me at first; like me, Jacob was convinced that the Durang was just a myth. But after presenting the same evidence to him that Kafele presented me with, Jacob too began to believe.

We talked for the next two hours about what was going to happen to me and how we were going to deal with it. It was hard enough on us keeping his secret from everyone at school; now we were going to have to keep another one.

We did agree that all of my soon to be abilities were going to rock hard core; but I was afraid of what was to come tonight. Kafele had told me he would be back tonight to monitor my change but so far I hadn't even felt the slightest sense of him anywhere near. If what he had said and what I had read was true, then I was going to die sometime tonight or tomorrow and I would wake up a protector of life. Had it been four years ago, I would have been thrilled at the prospect of becoming immortal; I would get to spend eternity with my best friends. But now, I was just plain tired of all the mythological aspects in my life. That was another reason why Jacob and I moved to the other side of the state. He was tired of it too.

But I guess things just weren't going to go our way this time. When have they ever?

We had been watching a rerun of Family Guy when Kafele appeared in my window again. Not two seconds later, I felt the pain rip through me again. Only this time it was much worse. And unlike yesterday, the pain didn't lift. It was a constant stabbing and it felt like my insides were liquefying. Along with the pain came the seizures, and it felt as if my brain was getting fried by millions of volts of electricity. I could only take it for so long before I promptly blacked out.

I had lost consciousness of the pain but that was it. While my vision had darkened I still held onto my other senses. I could clearly make out Kafele's pleasing baritone as he tried to calm Jacob down. That was just what I needed; the pain was enough already, I didn't need a crazed werewolf to add to the mix. Apparently Kafele had told him the same thing because I immediately felt my friend's warm hand on my forehead.

The pain came back full force not too long later; and like before, it was unbearable. I had asked Alice once, what it felt like to change into a vampire, and it seemed like a cake walk compared to what I was feeling right now. Where she had felt fire coursing through her veins, I was feeling my veins disappear. I was feeling everything getting ripped from my body piece by agonizing piece. It seriously felt like my insides were melting and then getting sucked up by the most heavy duty vacuum on the planet.

I had lost track of time, but it had to have been hours since this new form of torture began. I didn't know how my screams of agony went unheard by everyone in my dorm; they were so loud in my head. It was only when my arms thrashed up to my face in pain that I felt the gag in my mouth. Clearly it was holding in my cries of pain but I would have preferred it not to be there.

I didn't know what time it was when I felt my body contort in on itself; but when my back arched, the already unbearable pain increased three fold. My heart beat at a hummingbird's pace, and I knew I was about to have a heart attack. In my mind I was begging for one of them to just kill me already, but I just felt their soothing hands on my melting skin.

Finally, when I could take it no longer, my heart gave out. It was the most wonderful feeling I have ever felt. The melting of my insides stopped, I felt my body go lax and all of my senses went dark.

**6 years later**

My leg kicked out and knocked him off his feet. He looked up at me in a mixture of awe and annoyance. This had been the fifth time I got him to the ground, and getting beat by a girl was clearly getting on his nerves. I wiped my sweaty forehead on the hem of my tank top and stuck my hand out to him and smirked. "Sorry Jake, I know this must annoy you."

As I heaved his hulking frame off the mat, he replied, "Well, yeah my ego is getting bruised right now but I got to say, I'm impressed. Five knock downs in forty five minutes…damn. I am amazed at how much you've improved."

"As am I." We had been walking towards the locker room when we heard his voice. Our heads whipped around and I half grimaced.

Kafele had been the greatest mentor that I could have ever dreamed up. That night when I woke up, I instantly went in to survival mode and Kafele helped me calm myself. I couldn't exactly remember what had happened and he re-informed me. Everything was rushed after that. Kafele hurried throughout my room and began throwing everything of importance to me into a huge duffel bag while Jake and I just sat there completely confused. I had been under the impression that I would at least get to finish out the last few weeks of the semester; but I guess when Kafele said that we had to leave immediately, he really meant it. After my belongings were packed, Jacob's were next.

I don't' know what Kafele did to get us out of WSU, but that night was the last night we spent in Orton Hall. It was a long drive and we crossed through a couple mountain ranges before we reached our destination. Jake and I grabbed our duffels from the trunk of Kafele's car and we followed him into the compound.

I expressed my confusion as to why we were around other humans. I was under the impression that I needed to be in hiding, away from human contact. He once again settled my worries by explaining that we were at his home and that everyone that we would encounter here wouldn't be a threat.

I quickly learned over the course of the next two days that we were residing in a compound hidden in the northern most tip of Quebec, where every previous Durang resided-well every previous Durang still alive.

I spent the next six years training and fighting off any Vascilli I encountered. Jake spent those years in his own training with his fellow werewolf protectors, and helping me off the more resistant Vascilli we encountered.

While I trained often with some of the other previous Durangs, Kafele was my mentor specifically because he was my predecessor. And his training was brutal. I would repeatedly go back to my room night after night over those six years covered in deep bruises and shallow cuts. But our work did its job. The training had honed my abilities and I had perfected them to their max.

It was only this year that Jake and I felt powerful enough to venture out on our own. Kafele had been hesitant but after thorough persuasion-my fist in his face- Kafele worked his magic and was able to hack into WSU's networks and was able to wipe clean any and all traces of Jake's and my presence from six years ago.

And as much as I am indebted to him, Kafele bugged the shit out of me. In the past year that Jake and I had been living on our own, he would randomly pop up and insist that I train with him some more. It was to keep me in pristine fighting condition, or so he said. I think he just wanted to make sure that I wasn't slacking off in my down time-there had been virtually no action over the last year and it made me wonder if my job was nearing its end.

However, the thing that bugged me the most about him was that he introduced me to Lucian. But if I was being honest, it wasn't Kafele's fault and I would have met Lucian anyway. It had only happened one other time in the history of the Durang, and it seemed that it was happening again. Apparently, the war I found myself in required another to help end it. Lucian was the other Durang…my second, or sidekick so to say. He was almost at my level but the fact that he was the second to "rise up", his skills weren't as powerful as mine.

Lucian was my partner in crime…and was my on again off again bed partner too. And that's why I blame Kafele. Had he not introduced me to Lucian, I wouldn't be hard up right now. And that was the reason why I forced Jacob to come to the Rec center with me so I could work out my sexual frustration-in the form of kicking his ass. Well, the work out only half did it and I was still hard up. I was irritable already and Kafele's presence just amplified my tension. "What do you want Kafele?"

He followed us outside and we headed to a shaded corner of the building away from the main entrance. "We caught a new one," His smooth voice said, and my ears instantly perked up. Along with training, we conducted research throughout those six years. We had made some astonishing breakthroughs in regards to the Vascilli mutation that helped me immensely during take downs. "How much time do you have before the new semester starts?"

"A week…damn it! I wish you got him last week; then I could have gone back to the compound to help with the tests."

"Don't fret child; Brennor's team is perfectly capable to study the subject. They're hoping that the strain has altered and that UV will cause damage. I will keep you informed of the progress. I also wanted to let you know that Lucian has enrolled and will be residing in the same hall as you," he finished with a smirk before disappearing into the trees.

"Well, at least you can stop beating me up now," Jacob sniggered as we headed back to Orton. I just glared at him and pushed him out into the street.

* * *

"You need to go up to the compound and help with the research," I told him when we got back to our floor. Jacob raised an eyebrow at me. "You only have two classes this semester. You can miss the first week."

He leveled his gaze on me once we were safely in his room. "Are you nuts? I can't leave you here; I'd be breaking every rule by going up to the compound by myself." But before I could toss out any form of reply he cut me off. "I don't even think they'd let in the compound to begin with."

I rolled my eyes at him and flopped down on his bed. "Don't be ridiculous; you live there. Of course they would let you in."

"Oh but my dear you are missing the point. It is my job to protect you; therefore I need to be with you constantly. By showing up there without you, I would get reprimanded for neglecting my job and I would just get sent right back here; it would be a wasted trip."

"They'd let you in if you were under my specific orders to help with the research," I said smugly.

I was right and he knew it. Jake seemed to think on the subject for a bit before returning his gaze to me. "It still doesn't change the fact that it isn't safe for me to leave you by yourself."

"Calm down Black; I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself for two weeks. And if on the off chance that anything does happen, Kafele said that Lucian is living in the building. I can go to him," I shuddered at the end of my rant. Lucian was perfectly capable of protecting me; but I really didn't want to go to him. As it was, we were currently in the off again phase of our twisted relationship. If I went knocking on Lucian's door, he would try everything to put us back in the on again phase.

Jacob was about to protest again before I cut him off. "Not another word Wolf Boy; you're doing it. End of discussion." He still looked hesitant so I pulled out my last resort. "I'm sure Lucian has already sent Nikolina up there to help." A sly grin donned his features and he quickly grabbed his thickest pair of sweatpants.

He rummaged around the room for a bit before he turned to me. "You have to swear to me that you won't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

I was offended. "Would I really do that," He looked at me in annoyance. "Yeah you're right, I probably would."

I walked him down to the lobby of the building and we headed outside to my car. We got in and I drove him to the outskirts of campus and dropped him off. I waited in the car and smirked at him when he dropped his pants in preparation for his shift. He flipped me off and I threw my head back in laughter. By the time I calmed down, Jacob was already out of my sight.

I drove back to the building and decided to go for a stroll around campus to find where my classes would be held. Much to my dismay, I found out that I had to walk up and down Iron Hill twice everyday. _Well, at least my calves will be sick._ I smiled to myself and headed towards the Bookie. Now that my best friend was gone, I had no one to talk to. So to stave off boredom, I decided to get my books early and read the first few chapters so I'd be ahead for awhile.

$700 and one new WSU t-shirt later, I headed back to my room. It was getting dark and I promised Jacob that I wouldn't do anything stupid…and walking around in the dark completely defenseless with an arm load of books was precisely something stupid.

I had been reading for two hours and my eyes were about ready to fall out of my head. I threw my highlighter down onto my open abnormal psych book when there was a knock at my door. My brow furrowed in confusion for a bit. It could only be one of two people, and since Jacob was currently somewhere in Saskatchewan by now, I knew exactly who came calling on me. "What do you want Lucian?" I asked after throwing open my door.

"Now is that anyway to greet your boyfriend," He asked with a pout that quickly started off the seduction process.

I shook my head a bit to regain clarity and replied, "Stop calling yourself that. Just because I randomly have sex with you doesn't mean that you're my boyfriend. Now what do you want? You broke me out of my textbook groove." Ok so that was technically a lie but he didn't need to know that.

"I sent Nikolina to the compound four hours ago and I'm bored. Would you please entertain me?"

His eyes were smoky and the purr of his voice gave me chills. I needed to put a stop to this before I did something I would regret. "Okay, you really need to stop it with the accent. You know what it does to me!" Lucian was a full blooded Brazilian and his accent had given me a few orgasms in the past.

"I know; that is precisely why I use it on you darling," He whispered in my ear. I felt my knees weaken just a bit.

The combination of his hot breath on my skin and the sensation of him running his hand down my neck caused my head to roll back in desire. He moved in closer to me and when his body pressed against mine, I lost it. "Oh what the hell," I panted and grabbed a fist full of his shirt, pulling him into my room. He immediately shoved my books onto the floor and pushed me down onto my bed.

I'd just find where I left off reading in the morning.

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**Review, and get a sneak peak at what's up next...Thanks for reading...Toodles...**


	4. Bother

**Hello again...hope everyone had a good holiday break and that you are settling back into the new semester. This would have come out last weekend but I was a little busy with my 21st birthday. But that's a whole different story... This is my favorite chapter out of the five I have written so far. Hope you guys like it too. I am trying my best to write these chapters up but I am having more trouble than I planned. I am just now heading into the main meat of the story and since I don't exactly know what the whole conflict will be yet, my writing is getting held up. Here's hoping that I can nail down the conflict withing the next few weeks so I can get more of this written before my classes get too intensive. **

**Enough of this jibber jabber...I know what you guys want...ONWARD...**

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of our favorite faces...but i do own Lucian, and that makes me smile**

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****Hunter's Map**-----Fionn Regan

_Who was that fox caught in that trap, laid with Hunter's map_

**Bother**-----Stone Sour

_Wish I'd died instead of lived, a zombie hides my face_

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Needless to say, after the night Jacob left for the compound, I didn't get much reading done for the rest of the week. Lucian kept me in bed with him most of the time. Yeah I caved… big deal. But in my defense, it had been a long time since I'd had sex last.

Jacob called me twice everyday to keep me updated. But his last couple updates were pretty sparse in information. Lucian and I laughed so hard after Jacob's last update. He seemed pretty distracted when he spoke to us and right before he hung up, we heard a distinct female Brazilian accent begging him to come back to bed. I think we ended up laughing for like ten minutes with that one.

The first week of class went by quickly. My abnormal psych class was already awesome; it was by far my favorite. My other four classes were good but my poverty one kind of made me feel bad. But then again, poor people do that to me.

I know he would have been pissed to find out that I turned my senses off during class, but what Jacob didn't know wouldn't hurt him. I could picture his face getting all purple just thinking about it. But I really didn't care. My logic was that I was in class surrounded by witnesses. No one of any intelligence would try something right in the middle of a crowded room. Besides, I needed to focus on the lecture in front of me; I didn't need to be distracted by everyone's different scents and I defiantly didn't need to be studying anyone's aura during class.

After getting back from the lab, I threw my backpack onto my bed and kicked off my flip flops. I had finished all of my reading for the next three days during my rather boring shift in the psych lab, so now I had nothing to do. I contemplated calling Lucian up but then remembered that he had a late chem. lab tonight. I groaned in frustration. What was wrong with me? He had given me another rather fantastic romp in the sheets just this morning, and here I was frustrated again. Clearly I had problems.

I called Nikolina because I needed to talk to someone. She would know exactly how I was feeling because apparently, for the last few days she'd had the same situation going on with Jacob. I spent a half hour chatting with her about how frustrated I was at the moment and it turned out that she was just as frustrated as I was. Apparently, Jacob was still in the lab working on the subject and she was getting irritable. We were a pair her and I. Before hanging up, she let me know that they were going to be heading back to WSU in the morning.

I set the key lock on my Blackberry and tossed it into the top drawer of my night stand. I looked up at my clock only to realize that Lucian still had an hour left in his lab. Since he was off limits tonight I turned to the next best thing. I donned my suit and stuffed my feet into my Nikes. I pulled on one of Lucian's hoodies and headed for the elevator.

I set off on a brisk pace as I jogged up Stadium Way. The sun was setting and the temperature had dropped to a comfortable degree-somewhere in the mid 60's. A bus passed me on my journey, the exhaust clouding my eyes. I sucked in a sharp breath at the loss of one of my senses and kicked my mind into high gear to stay alert. It was ok to turn them off while surrounded by a classroom full of people…but being alone at twilight was not a time to go into depravation.

Car loads of people zoomed down the road on their way home for the long weekend. I had a momentary sting of homesickness and decided that I would have to go visit Renee soon. If I could get ahead in my reading then I might be able to skive off on class next Thursday and Friday and fly down to see her. The thought brought a smile to my lips as I rounded the corner, bringing the rec center into sight.

I tossed my joggers into my locker and pulled out my cap and goggles. I grabbed a towel and pushed through the door to the pool. I was immediately assaulted by the stench of chlorine and I breathed it in deep. I absolutely adored the smell; whenever I told anyone that, they would just look at me funny and shake their heads. I didn't care though…the scent of chlorine was oddly soothing to me…it felt like home.

Even though I wasn't supposed to, I got into my starting stance and dove into the water off the side of the pool. I did a quick warm up consisting of an 800 freestyle, and when I popped up at the end of the pool, I got a small glare from the lifeguard on duty. I gave him a sheepish grin and he just smirked at me and shook his head. I had been at the pool everyday for the past two weeks; all the lifeguards knew that I knew what I was doing, so that was why I didn't get told off for diving into the pool.

I did a few sets and after a quick cool down, I popped out of the water and headed back to the locker room. I quickly dried off and put my work out clothes back on. I dropped my suit in the power wringer and when it was dried to my satisfaction, I tossed it into my locker. After grabbing my iPod, I shut my locker door and headed for the treadmill.

All this time, my senses had been dulled; not completely turned off, but low enough that I wouldn't get distracted from my workout. I had been on the treadmill for about ten minutes when I got the distinct feeling that someone was watching me. My ears perked up and my heart rate quickened. But just as soon as it had appeared, the sense vanished. I shook my head to regain clarity and continued on my run. But for the remainder of my work out, I was running at medium alert.

I wiped my forehead off and pushed my way through the doors. The night air bit at my sweaty face, and I reveled in it. The stars were shining as I ran, leading me home. I kicked up my pace when I was about half way back to my dorm…the feeling of being watched had returned, and it didn't go away until I reached my building. I quickly ripped my id card through the scanner on the door and pushed my way into the building. Only when the door clicked shut did I feel somewhat safer.

I took a quick shower and headed back to my room. I got a chuckle out of the note Lucian had left on my white board. _"I came back from lab and you weren't here…you'll need to make it up to me tomorrow."_ I need to make it up to him…more like he needs to make it up to me. I shut my door, threw on a tank top forgoing my sleep shorts and fell asleep in my underwear. I was too tired to worry about the formality of pants. My work out had served its purpose somewhat. It had tired me out enough to be able to sleep but had done nothing for my frustration at Lucian's absence. Oh yeah, he would defiantly be making it up to me tomorrow.

* * *

**Apov**

It had been six years…six long years since I saw what made my still heart die. I can't even begin to describe the torture that these years have been. But each day it gets easier…easier to go abut my business…easier to lie to myself and pretend like nothing is different. It was hard enough to leave her in the first place, but now to know that, if I ever decided to randomly pop up in her life, I can't. It's simply too hard…so I lie to myself.

Edward didn't handle it any better…so I've been told. He left not too long after it happened. He never said where he went or what he did. All any of us know is that he left and skulked around in the shadows in some far reaching corner of the earth.

He came back three months ago simply because Esme begged him too. I almost wished she hadn't. Since he's been back, Edward has been almost unbearable to live with. Poor Jasper has to hide out in our room whenever Edward decides to come out of his…the guilt and despair is too much for him. But when Edward does decide to grace us with his presence, we get treated to mixtures of self induced pity parties and unreasonable anger. He lashes out at everyone, transferring his self loathing onto everyone else. I can only now understand what Jasper goes through…it literally hurts to be in the same room with him.

Currently Emmett was helping Carlisle and Jasper pack up boxes in the kitchen. For some odd reason, he had the desire to go back to college…maybe this time he'll actually stick with it for longer than one semester. I could understand why he picked the school he picked…I was thinking along the same lines. He wanted to stay in the state because this is where _she_ had been, but he couldn't go to Seattle because it was too close to _her_.

While I had lost my best friend and Edward had lost his twisted and warped fantasy, Emmett had lost his little sister…his partner in crime. I never understood the relationship he had with Bella, but it was almost like he enjoyed her company more than he enjoyed any of ours…even Rosalie's, which just gave her another reason to hate Bella. I never asked Emmett how he was able to deal with his pain, but many a broken tree in the backyard and a few unsolved arson cases told me everything I needed to know.

As it was, Emmett was one lucky vampire. He chose an unconventional school for us to attend and practically sat on top of me until I would predict the weather forecast for the next year for him. Emmett got his wish because I was seeing an uncharacteristically early period of snow for the fall and an extended winter for the spring. I almost felt bad for the current residents; I had heard they got to experience lovely chilly autumns and bright sunny springs. But it's not like _I_ could control anything.

I pouted when I learned that there wasn't much for shopping in the area and Rosalie fumed when she learned about the hills she would have to climb to get to class. Jasper was indifferent-so long as the weather was what we needed he would go anywhere- and Edward didn't say a word. I really don't think he cared about anything anymore. While we all weren't happy about having to move again, we didn't put up much fight because it was Emmett who asked us to move. Emmett had never asked for anything so we felt we owed it to him. And I figured, there's always overnight shipping online.

By two in the morning, everything was packed and we were ready to go. The new house was just a bit smaller then the main house but no one was complaining. Esme had gone up early to decorate and from the pictures she e-mailed back, the place looked stunning. It was tucked away on the back side of the hills and wasn't too far away from campus…a half hour's drive at posted speed limits.

I couldn't fathom why we had to leave as soon as everything was packed but Emmett insisted. He dragged us all out to our tightly packed cars, hell bent on leaving right away. He didn't even wait for Carlisle to lock everything up, before dragging Rose by the hand to her BMW… he jumped into his jeep and shot out of the driveway. The rest of us waited for Carlisle to finish closing down the house before we even took another step towards our cars. Rosalie took off next, followed by Carlisle-the black of his Mercedes blending in with the night sky. Jasper hopped into the driver's side of my Porsche and beckoned me to the car. But I hesitated a bit with my eyes on my brother. He looked one last time in the direction of _her_ house; I'm sure memorizing every last detail. I think this was going to be the last time he would ever be in this town.

He trudged over to his Volvo-his pace slow and by the looks of it, anguished. I couldn't help it. As much as he had been upsetting me lately, he was still my brother…and he was hurting. In a flash I was by his side taking hold of his hand. He looked at me for a bit before enveloping me in a hug. "She'd want you to be happy," I whispered to him before looking in his eyes. They glistened with unshed venom tears. He nodded his head before dropping my hand. I watched him climb into his car and ease his way down the driveway. Jasper and I followed him.

The drive was very boring. The night disguised the lack of scenery, and I shuddered at the thought of how boring the drive must be in the daylight hours, if it was this boring in the dark. Jasper felt my boredom and distaste and he just laughed at me. And in the most mature of gestures, I stuck my tongue out at him. This only caused more laughter to spill from his gorgeous lips.

* * *

At least my classes were exciting for this college go around. I was in fashion design and even after the first week, I was loving every minute of it. I think the change of scenery did us all some good. Esme smiled more and Rosalie wasn't being nearly as much of a bitch as usual. Emmett was just in love with his choice of schools and he absolutely adored all of his psych classes. I found it odd that he chose this path this time. Emmett didn't strike me as the therapist type. I don't think he would make a very good one, but who am I to tell him what to do. Even Edward seemed to brighten up a bit. He chose the easy way out and only enrolled in music classes. But looking back now, I realized that he hadn't played anything since she died. Maybe his classes were going to be harder on him than I thought.

I was just leaving my last class when Emmett accosted me right out front of the library. He looked harried but excited at the same time. I furrowed my eye brows at him but he just grabbed hold of my hand and pulled me towards the clock tower. Once we were sitting on the stone steps I looked over at him. "Okay, what has got you all riled up Emmett?"

"She's here," He breathed out in a whisper as if he said it any louder his source of happiness would be taken away.

"Who's here," I asked him perplexed. I had never in my very long life seen Emmett this ecstatic. I looked hard into his eyes and knew instantly whom he spoke of. My face softened and I took hold of his hand. "Honey, no," I said shaking my head. "There is no possible way. You must have just seen someone who looked like her." I felt bad about my patronizing tone but Emmett had clearly gone insane.

"Don't talk to me like I'm five Alice. And before you say anything, I know I always act like it," He replied cutting me off. I could only smirk at him. "I'm telling you Alice, it was her; she's in my abnormal psych class!"

"Emmett, stop this," I said forcefully, getting a little angry. "Bella is dead. She has been for six years…I saw her die."

"You didn't actually see her die." Well, he had me on that one. "Alice, I swear it's her. I mean, her hair is shorter, she is a little taller and her scent is a bit off…Alice, I wouldn't lie to you about this. I miss her just as much, maybe even more than you do. I wouldn't tell you this if I wasn't positive it was her."

I could hear the sincerity in his voice and I had no choice but to believe him. I couldn't stop the hope that I felt creeping up inside my chest. I was walking down a path that wasn't good for me. If I put my faith in this and this girl turned out to be someone else; I don't think I would be able to recover. "Do you think we should go talk to her?" I asked him timidly.

"I'm not sure where she lives so I'll talk to her Tuesday in class. Let's go back to the house…I want to drop off my stuff and go hunt." He pulled on my hand and we walked in the direction of his jeep.

I could feel the excitement growing in me. It was quickly spiraling out of control and I found myself happy about it. Yes, I was going down a very dangerous path, but I couldn't bring myself to turn around. I was almost at the point of wanting to endure the boredom of Emmett's psych lecture just to be there when he approached her.

We were parked on the other side of campus and since there were still people milling about, we had to walk at human pace. As we walked, I imagined all these different scenarios of how the interaction would go. Would she remember us? Would she be upset that we hadn't stayed in contact? Would she even want to talk to us?

"Emm, I don't think we should tell anyone this right yet," I said as we walked down Iron Hill. He looked down at me with questioning eyes. "I just don't want to get everyone's hopes up if it turns out that it's not Bella." Mine and his hopes were already sky high. I didn't want to do that to Edward only to have it backfire in my face. I don't think he would be able to live through it.

We reached the parking lot and I had just managed to get the door open when I heard Emmett's hand smack down on the hood of the jeep. I looked up at him and turned in the direction he was pointing. A girl with shoulder length brown hair jogged by us and I could hear what was coming out of her iPod. Apparently this was Emmett's "Bella", and just like I had known, my hopes were deflated. "Emmett, that's not her…Bella doesn't listen to Bush…" but the rest of my thought broke off when I caught her aroma. Emmett was right; it wasn't exactly the same. It smelled like oranges and bananas…very citrusy, but I could still detect the "Bella smell", however faint it was.

Emmett had grabbed my hand and we took off after her. Luckily I had worn my Juicy Couture track suit today; so I didn't' look like an idiot running down the main road in designer jeans and heals. We rounded the corner and followed her up to the rec center. "Well Alice, you up for some weight lifting," Emmett laughed while I gritted my teeth. I hated working out. But we continued after her nonetheless.

After shoving both our id cards through the scanner to get us into the building, I scanned the room for her, but I couldn't find her anywhere. We split up, Emmett staying on the ground floor and me going upstairs. I checked the rooms where they held the fitness classes, and I scoured every inch of the floor, but I still couldn't find her. I made my way back down to Emmett, only to find him on his back doing bench presses. "Did you even look for her," I asked him annoyed.

"Of course I looked for her, but like you, I came up short so I decided to not blow our cover. That is why I'm lifting right now." He put the bar back in place and got up from the bench. "Now I'm going to do some squats, I suggest you do something too, so you don't look suspicious…" But what ever he was going to say next never made it out of his mouth.

She had just come from around the corner and was heading up the stairs. Her hair was wet, like she had just gotten out of the pool. The pool…of course, we didn't check the pool. We watched as she ascended the stairs and jumped on a treadmill. She set herself at a slight incline and kicked the pace on high.

We just stood there gaping at her. She looked so different. Her cheekbones were high and sharp and her jaw had angled out. She still had her milky skin but there was a sort of soft glow to it now. Her arms and legs were very defined and her tight tank top hugged her ripped stomach. Clearly age did her well.

She had been running for about ten minutes when I saw her body stiffen. She kept running so as not to draw attention to herself but she seemed to be on alert almost. Her eyes scanned the room and I had to shove Emmett out of the way when her eyes dropped to right where we were standing.

We waited on some machines, only going through the motions to keep under cover, while we waited for her to leave the building. I was sitting on this weird looking leg press machine when my eyes caught sight of her walking out the main doors. I gave Emmett a swift kick in the shin to get his attention, and then we were off on the chase again.

I couldn't believe that she was running home. She had run to the building, had herself a nice swim workout, ran for about twenty minutes on the treadmill and now she was running home. I couldn't fathom how she had the energy. We followed close behind her and after a bit, I saw her stiffen again. She quickened her pace and continued on her way, but I could see her head moving as she scanned the area.

We followed her all the way back to her dorm. She quickly swiped her id card in the scanner and then she was in the building. Emmett and I headed back for the car after that. As we drove home, I couldn't help but think about where she lived. She was 28 years old and was living in the dorms? Why didn't she have an apartment? But Bella was always a strange one…I guess age didn't change that fact about her.

As we pulled up the driveway, I quickly hid my thoughts so Edward wouldn't be tipped off to our night of espionage. Jasper met me at the door and gave me a kiss before taking my shoulder bag from me. He disappeared up the stairs to deposit my bag in our room.

I hustled my way to the kitchen because Edward was sitting in the family room reading a book. But apparently I wasn't quick enough in my escape because I heard Edward's voice call after me. "Why are you doing quadratic equations in your head?" I didn't answer him; I just continued on my way to the kitchen and out to the backyard, where Rosalie was working under the hood of one of our many cars. I took refuge in her presence because I knew she wouldn't inquire about my day. For once in my life, I loved how self absorbed she was.

Edward was gone when I returned to the house. I breathed a sigh of relief that I could stop the math in my head. I pulled out one of my design books and started reading for class. I was going to read ahead so I could attend Emmett's lecture on Tuesday. There was no way I was going to let him be the first one she sees…not after tonight. And as I read my text I couldn't stop the giddy feeling of having my best friend back, from overtaking me.

* * *

**Bpov**

My weekend had been a blast. Jacob and Nikolina had returned from the compound and I got to get in a few jabs at her. Apparently she had used all of her feminine wiles to attract Jacob's attention last night, but he didn't take the hint. She hadn't talked to him all day.

After my teasing her, I felt bad, so I treated her to a shopping trip in Spokane. There was no class on Monday because of the holiday so I figured Nikolina and I could make the escape. I would have preferred the better shopping in Seattle but Nikolina had been on the road all day and she didn't want to make another long trip. So we settled for the forty five minute drive to the smaller metropolis. I had acquired a taste for speed over the last six years so the trip time was cut in half. Jacob had made fun of me relentlessly during my first drive after my change. I couldn't help but smile every time I thought about him sprawled out on his back on the side of the highway. His teasing had gotten to be too much, so I had pushed him out of the moving car.

After returning home from our shopping excursion with two new outfits to add to my overflowing wardrobe, I opened the door to my room and was greeted to a half naked Lucian lounging on my bed reading a copy of Deception Point. The minute the door closed behind me, Lucian tossed the book aside and grabbed me around the waist, pulling me on top of him. We didn't leave the room for the rest of the weekend.

So when I rolled out of bed on Tuesday, it was no wonder why I was in high spirits. Even if I had to keep my senses turned on all day-after what happened on Friday night at the gym, I wasn't taking any chances-I couldn't suppress the smile on my face all day. It was still in place when I got to my abnormal psych class, and my seatmate, Morgan noticed. I liked Morgan…I couldn't go as far as calling her my friend, because I wasn't technically allowed the luxury of friends, but she was as good as one.

"It looks like someone got lucky this weekend," she said with a sly grin.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," I lied trying to act cool. But I failed miserably at it.

She looked at me with a pointed stare and replied, "You know, when you get laid you should brag about it. Lord knows I would, but considering I haven't in like three months, thank you Kyle," she said in an annoyed voice that made me chuckle, "I can't brag about it, so I need to live vicariously through you."

Luckily, our professor entered the classroom so I was saved from her further inquiry. But to satiate her need, I turned to her and gave her my best "I just got laid all weekend long" grin. She just glared at me before leaning over and whispering, "You know, I think I'm going to stay for the quiz and skip lecture so I can go over to Kyle's place and seduce him." I broke out in silent laughter as the stack of quizzes reached our end of the row.

I finished quickly and handed my sheet in to the TA. As I sat back down, I glanced over at Morgan who had flipped her quiz over on her desk and was busy packing up her bag. I watched as she handed her sheet in and headed for the door. She caught my eye and smirked at me before she disappeared into the hallway.

I didn't actually believe her when she said she was going to skive off, but if she needed sex that badly, more power to her. I smiled and shook my head before settling back into my seat to wait for the lecture to begin.

It was right at the end of class when it happened. I was so enraptured with the material being presented, that when the scent hit me, I just about fell out of my chair. As it was, I immediately tensed up and tuned out everything so I could focus on the people around me. The scent was new; not one I could recognize, but it was still the tell tale scent of vampire.

_How did they find me?_ I breathed through my mouth to find my center so I could prepare myself for the confrontation that I was sure was going to ensue. For the remaining five minutes of class I sat tensed and my eyes never left the clock, willing time to move faster so these people could get out and get safe.

My own safety flashed in my mind for a fleeting second before it vanished. I could smell two of them so I could handle the confrontation without Jacob's or Lucian's aid. But all the same, I was on edge.

By some miracle, class ended two minutes early and everyone packed up their bags and made for the door…everyone but me and the two vampires that is. I took my time packing up my bag so I could have a reason to stay behind in the classroom without drawing attention to myself. My professor smiled at me as he headed for the door and then I was alone…with two unknown vampires who very well could have been responded to the hit on my head.

I had just secured all of my stuff in my backpack and stood up to face them when I felt and heard the door bang open. I was instantly hit with the sickly sweet scent of a vampire wearing too much perfume. "What are you two still doing here? I have been waiting outside for a good three minutes waiting to drive you two…" But she was cut off by the other two. I felt them edge closer to me so I tensed and squared my shoulders readying myself for the fight that was sure to come. Slowly I turned to face my adversaries and was met with a sudden gasp and three pairs of wide eyes. The Lucian high I had been riding instantly vanished when I saw who I was facing.

* * *

**Empov**

All throughout the lecture Alice kept whispering things into my ear. At first I found it only slightly annoying, but when she wouldn't shut up I couldn't hold back my hiss. She huffed at me and pulled out a nail file, keeping her eyes on the back of Bella's head for the remainder of the lecture. I was just as excited as she was for the end of class but I really needed to pay attention to the lecture going on in front of me. I had never stuck through college and I really wanted to do well this time around. And to do well, I couldn't be getting distracted by the over zealous little munchkin sitting next to me.

Right before class ended I saw Bella's frame stiffen; clearly she knew we were there. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing yet. Alice was currently vibrating in her seat and I had to push her back down just to get her to stay still. By some wonderful twist of fate class ended early for the day, and we stayed in our seats watching everyone file out of the room. Bella stayed where she was and only when our professor left the room did she rise to her feet.

I clutched onto the back of Alice's shirt to keep her from ambushing Bella. This situation needed to be handled delicately. We left her high and dry ten years ago without even saying goodbye. For all I knew, Bella might want to rip our throats out right now.

We inched our way towards her; she still remained facing the other way. I was just about to say something when the door to the classroom burst open and my wife's scent hit me. I inwardly groaned. "What are you two still doing here? I have been waiting outside for a good three minutes waiting to drive you two…" But Alice waved her hand to shut Rosalie up. We stood there waiting and watched as Bella squared her shoulders and slowly turned around.

Rosalie let out a gasp and my eyes went wide. While there were slight changes to her features, they were too subtle to be made by time. She still looked as she did the last time we saw her…she couldn't be any older than 20. She looked _too_ much like us. My first thoughts were that she had been turned, but she didn't smell right for that.

Her eyes held the most startling change. No longer were they the deep chocolate that went on forever…now they were a shade of bluish green that I had never seen before. She looked at us and her eyes were hard. She didn't seem to be upset about us being here, but she didn't look happy to see us either. It was almost as if she were calculating something. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of air, pulling in our scents. While her eyes were closed, Alice spoke up in a small voice, "Bella?"

Bella's eyes snapped open at the sound of Alice's voice. She didn't respond to her and she kept her eyes trained to a spot on the wall above Alice's head. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was wrong here…because something was clearly off. She should have aged more…she should have thrown herself at us once she realized who we were. What was different about her?

Her voice was cold when she finally spoke, and the sound of it threw chills down my spine. "What kind are you?"

I felt my dead heart shatter. No, no, it couldn't be! They were supposed to have died out by now. There wasn't anything going on that would warrant their return. And even if there was something happening, sweet little Bella couldn't be involved in it.

Rosalie, apparently over the shock of seeing someone who was supposed to have been dead for the last six years, opened her big mouth and what she said caused me to cringe. Now was not the time! "Why the fuck are you still alive?"

Alice hissed at her and turned her eyes back to Bella. Rosalie's comment didn't seem to have any affect on Bella whatsoever; she still had that hard mask over her face. "Bella, I can't believe it. You're alive…how is that possible when I watched you die?" Alice asked in confusion as she took another step towards our friend.

But Bella didn't reply to her; she just kept her eyes trained on that same spot in the wall. And her voice was just as cold as it was when she first asked. "What kind are you?"

The girls stared perplexedly at her but remained silent. Apparently they didn't know as much as I knew. When her eyes flickered to me, I knew. She was it, but how it was possible, I wouldn't ever be able to say. I breathed out a huge sigh and looked her straight in the eye. "Ethos," my voice said sadly.

Her blank stare remained unchanged but when she looked over us all, I thought I saw a flash of relief fill her eyes. She took another deep breath and said, "Good to know," before she walked out the door.

Alice and Rosalie looked on her retreating figure before looking at me in complete confusion. We hurried after her and just as she was about to cross the street Alice called after her. "Bella wait. What do you mean, what kind are you?"

She froze where she stood before turning to face us. She looked at me before asking, "I trust you mean _everyone_ Emmett. Not just you three."

Alice let out a huff of frustration when I nodded my head. Bella looked at her for the first time and a small smirk donned her lips. "You're very fortunate that Emmett replied correctly Alice. If he had said that you were Vascilli, you three would be dead right now." Bella promptly turned on her heal and walked away.

We caught up to her and Rosalie grabbed hold of her arm. "What are you talking about?"

Bella ripped her arm out of Rosalie's stone grip and she looked at my wife with pure ice in her eyes. If I didn't know any better, I would be afraid for Rosalie's life right now. But as it was, Bella wasn't allowed to harm her unless Rosalie attacked her in some way. "Don't worry, Emmett will fill you in later."

"Would you give us a clear fucking answer please?" Bella yet again turned to face us and it made my heart ache to see the cynical smile on her face. What had happened in the last ten years?

She let out a short chuckle before focusing her gaze on Rosalie. And I had to hold in my laugh at how she addressed my wife. Even though she was vastly different, there was still a little bit of the Bella that I knew and loved still under that hard exterior. "Oh Princess," Rosalie's eyes grew wide with the insult. "There is so much that your little sheltered life with Carlisle has not taught you."

"What happened to you Bella?" Alice asked. And her voice clearly showed how much she didn't understand her best friend. "Please explain it to us."

She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration and I was eerily reminded of Edward. She motioned for us to follow her and we took off in silence towards the secluded underside of the sky bridge by Stevenson. When we got there Bella sat down on the ground and folded her legs. "What do you want to know Alice?"

"Everything…what has happened over the last ten years…why you haven't aged…everything," Alice pleaded.

Just as she was about to reply her cell phone went off. She looked at the screen and growled in annoyance.

* * *

**Bpov**

I didn't know how I felt about seeing them again. I wasn't happy or upset…I was indifferent. It was like I could have a conversation with them and then walk away and it wouldn't matter. I never thought I would end up being this cynical.

I was just about to answer Alice's question when I heard my Blackberry go off. I looked at the screen and groaned. I was maybe fifteen minutes late and his panties are all in a twist. I clicked my phone on and put it up to my ear. I didn't even bother to apologize for the interruption. "What?"

"_Who pissed you off? Its fifteen minutes after your last class and Lucian and I are hungry. Where are you?"_

With their super sonic hearing, I knew they were listening in on my conversation. "I'm under the sky bridge by Stevenson. What do you want?"

"_We were going to have you meet us somewhere but Lucian and I are heading in that direction. We'll pick you up."_

"I'm a little busy right now Jacob; can't this wait?"

"_We'll be there in thirty seconds."_ And his phone clicked off. This is going to be fun.

I turned my eyes back onto the three vampires in front of me. They had heard the conversation and now seemed to be on alert due to the impending arrival of my idiot best friend and my even bigger idiot "whatever Lucian was".

I watched as they rounded the corner and came into view. Lucian immediately tensed and Jacob started to shake when my visitor's scents hit their noses. I shook my head in amusement as I watched them hurtle towards me. Clearly my visitors caught Jacob's scent because even before they got to us, Alice had thrown herself in front of me and was crouched in a protective stance. Emmett and Rosalie were glaring at them.

I raised an eyebrow at Alice's protective stance just as I heard Jacob growl out, "What are _you_ doing here?"

I rolled my eyes at him and stepped out from behind Alice. "Calm yourself Jacob." I instantly felt Lucian grab hold of my wrist and pull me to his side.

Alice and Rosalie hissed at my two companions. "You do realize that you are standing next to a werewolf, right Bella?" Alice asked still in her defensive stance. I looked to see that Emmett had an embarrassed grimace on his face. I smirked at him in reassurance.

"Yes Alice, I am very much aware that I am standing next to a werewolf." I turned to face Jake and Lucian and said, "As you can see, I'm kind of in the middle of something. How about you two boys go eat without me?"

"I'm not and _can't_ leave you alone with them," Jake spit out. Lucian pulled me tighter into his side. I could see Alice eye Lucian's tight hold on me and a confused and almost sad look flitted across her face.

I never would have expected Rosalie to say what she said next, but it aggravated me just as much as it would have if Alice had said it. "She would be much safer with us than with you, filth."

"Okay stop," I said firmly causing everyone to look at me. I pointed to Jacob and said, "You, calm yourself down and put aside the rules this once. And you," I said pointing at Rosalie, "Mind your manners! I will explain everything but you two need to go right now."

Lucian and Jacob looked like they were going to argue so I cut them off before they had the chance. "I want you two to go now. I will talk to you later." They heard the order in my voice and Jacob walked off in frustration. Lucian sent me a look that I couldn't place before following him.

"What was that?" Alice asked once my boys were out of earshot.

"Sit and I will explain," I replied motioning for them to park it on the ground. I sat down with them and launched into the story.

A half hour later, I sat facing an incredulous looking Alice and Rosalie and a sad looking Emmett. He blinked a few time and said, "I just can't believe it. I was certain that your race had died out. There has been no news hinting to the fact that another would rise up. I just don't understand how it could be you."

"Well for one thing Emmett, there is stuff going on. It makes me sad that Carlisle didn't inform any of you of the danger. I was just as skeptical as you when I found out what I was. But it's in my genes. I guess I was always meant to be a freak."

"I can't believe that you kill people," Rosalie said with a smile. "Damn Bella, you're a bitch…I love it!"

"Thanks Rosalie," I said half confused, half sarcastic.

"Well, there is only one thing to it," Alice said after a short silence. I looked at her and instantly knew what she wanted. And I shook my head when her voice exploded, "You have to come over to the house. Everyone will want to see you when they find out!"

"No," my voice was hard. She looked at me like I had slapped her. As much as I was indifferent about them being in my life again, I wasn't going to voluntarily be apart of their lives…not while I was being hunted. I wouldn't put them in that kind of danger.

"Why not? Don't you want to see everyone?" Alice asked, giving me her famous pout that used to get me to agree to anything.

"One; that pout won't work on me any more so tuck that lip back in Alice. And two; I am being hunted even as we speak. I will not bring that to your door."

"Oh come off it Bella, we can protect ourselves," Emmett said standing up from the ground.

I looked at him, and for a moment, I saw my big brother from all those years ago. When he looked down at me with his golden eyes filled with hope, I caved. "Fine; I'll be gone for the next few days depending on how long it takes. Does Friday work?"

"Yes! Even if it doesn't I'll make everyone cancel their plans," Alice cried and threw herself at me. I tensed and remained still for a bit before hesitantly bringing my hand up to pat her back. It felt really awkward!

After disentangling myself from Alice's arms, I gave my Blackberry to Emmett and I took his phone. I programmed my number and took my phone back. Alice looked a bit sad that I didn't give her my phone but it barely registered with me. "Emmett, I'll call you when I get back, and if it is okay with my two keepers," I sneered a bit, "I'll be over at your house around two."

I turned on my heal and headed for my dorm. I heard Alice shout something at me but I didn't make the effort to catch it. I waved at them over my shoulder and trekked up the hill.

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**The confrontation between Bella and the other's outside her psych class was the catalyst that started this maddness off. And so far-and I think it will always be-the "Oh princess" line is my favorite. I just love it that Bella can stand up to Rosalie. I always thought the bitch needed to be put in her place. **

**Review and get a sneaky peaky at chapter 4...Thanks for reading...Toodles...**


	5. Drink the Water

**Hello again kiddies...Sorry about the late update. School has gotten out of control at the moment. As it is, I am putting off doing the introduction to my research study and typing this up instead...so you guys should be happy that I procrastinate. Anywhoo...I think that is it for now...ONWARD...**

**DISCLAIMER: I own no songs and none of our favorite faces...but I do own Lucian...and that makes me smile.**

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**Hunter's Map**-----Fionn Regan

_Who was that fox caught in that trap, laid with hunter's map_

**Drink the Water**-----Jack Johnson

_You might just find, that you're out of time, to swim ashore, if I drift long enough, I'll be home_

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**Bpov**

I was crouched behind the half wall that lined the upper floor of her apartment. If I wasn't here to kill her, I would have stopped to admire the work Cartajia put into her house. But, as it was, she was the target and needed to be taken out. We had been tracking her movements for the past three months just waiting for the right time for me to strike.

What can I say about Cartajia Mareva? Not much, except that she's a bitch and just about as good a fighter as I am. She had been flying on our radar for the last two years and during our first encounter last winter, she narrowly escaped leaving me looking like a moron, after ripping a huge gash in my leg with her teeth. Let's just say that this takedown was going to be awesome, simply because she had gotten sloppy in the last year and I was fueled by revenge. Retribution would be sweet.

About an hour ago, I watched Cartajia roll out of her driveway for parts unknown just like I had anticipated. Once she was out of eyesight, we stealthily broke our way into her apartment. I sent Lucian to the main floor to take care of her bodyguards upon their return. There were five of them, but they were sloppy, so Lucian wouldn't have a problem. After he got situated in his hiding spot, I took off up the stairs to ambush her when she passed by.

She ended up staying out with her cronies later than I had expected. I was just about ready to get up and stretch when I heard the gravel crunch at the beginning of her two mile long driveway. I hissed at Lucian to get his attention and resumed my crouch.

It didn't take long before I heard the lock tumble and her door open. Immediately after, the tell tale thud of a body hit the ground. Someone yelled for Cartajia to take cover and the ruckus downstairs increased in volume. Lucian must have been knocking them around pretty good.

I heard her voice float up to me and I had to smirk at the lightness of it. It was almost as if she expected me to be here. "Oh Isabella, come out, come out from wherever you're hiding." I heard her footsteps as she ascended the stairs. "I don't like it when people break into my home. It makes me very upset. _You_ know perfectly well what happens to people when I get upset."

I couldn't believe it. The bitch was taunting me! I had a hard time trying to suppress the urge to jump out at her right then. Timing was everything tonight. My timing had been off the first time and look what happened. I wasn't going to go down that road again. I could only look like a fool so much and anymore from her would be ego bruising.

"Little Isby, you shouldn't hide when someone calls for you. It's rude," She mocked as she reached the top floor. "Well, I guess since you're not here, then you won't know what I plan to do to little Lucian now that he is knocked out on the floor. He is going to be a lively one, I can tell."

She crossed in front of me still searching for me ahead of her. I guess she really was as dumb as I remembered. For crying out loud, I was hiding in plain sight and she still walked right past me. Not to mention the fact that I could still hear Lucian wining his fight downstairs. I jumped up off the floor and said in a bored voice, "You really should work on your lying skills Cartajia; I can hear Lucian winning downstairs."

She smiled a sinister smile at me that made me raise an eyebrow. What was she up to? "It's wonderful to see you again Isabella. How is your leg?"

Oh, she wanted to play it this way did she? Well then… "It healed up nicely and left a heinous scar. I really should thank you for that; it makes me feel like a bad ass."

She tossed her head back and laughed a high pitched girlish sound that caused me to gag just a bit. "Well, at least you got to feel special for a bit, before I kill you."

"What makes you so sure that you can kill me?"

"I think that "bad ass" scar on your leg is proof enough," she mocked me.

I let out a sigh as if I were bored. "Word on the street is, you've gotten sloppy since last time…" But I couldn't get the rest out before she flew towards me. Our bodies collided in a sickening crunch as I felt her nails dig into my neck. The scent of my blood instantly washed over me.

Arms were flying, and punches were thrown. I dodged each of her attempts skillfully and not too soon after we started, Cartajia was getting desperate. I kept sidestepping her and she eventually gave up trying to hit me. Instead, she reached for my hair. Her hold wasn't very strong due to the fact that she had a hard time getting a grip on my short braids. That was the reason why I cut off my hair…nothing to grab onto. And the braids sitting snug to my head made it that much harder.

I grasped hold of her hands that were clinging to my head, and I hurled her off of me and right into the wall at the end of the hall. The cabinet shattered with her weight and its contents rained down on her head. Cartajia looked up at me in shock before glancing down around her. I fleetingly saw her grab up something off the floor but I wasn't able to get a good look at her hand.

She gracefully stood up off of the floor and turned to face me. Her hand was still behind her back so I wasn't able to see what she was holding. As she walked towards me, my ears decided to tune into Lucian downstairs and I noticed that he was struggling. The instinct to help him crashed down on me. It was completely stupid and I would regret it later, but I vaulted myself over the half wall and landed on the guard he was fighting. "Thanks Bells," he said sarcastically before snapping the neck of another guard.

"No problem…now I have to get back to the heathen upsta…" but the rest of my thought was cut off when I felt her weight crash into me from above. I was immediately thrown back and Cartajia came with me. As we crashed to the floor, I took an elbow to the face and felt a sickening pain rip into my right leg. I kicked her off of me and looked down to see the damage.

She knifed me! How could I have not seen this coming? I pulled the knife out of my leg and tossed it aside. I didn't bother to look and see what kind it was because Cartajia had gotten up and was preparing to spring at me. I popped into a crouch, biting back a wince from my leg and eyed her.

"Now you have matching scars Isabella," She mocked again. It was getting ridiculous. The position her body took was new. I had never seen this type of crouch before. As I analyzed her movements, I realized just how sloppy she had gotten over the year. Her back foot was too far forward so she wouldn't be able to propel as far. Her upper body was too ridged; she'd need to relax more if she wanted to cause any damage. I heard a growl rip out of her throat before she flew herself at me. Her sudden movement worked to my advantage. Since her stance was off, Cartajia over shot and I was able to duck down and knock her legs out from under her.

But she was able to take me down with her. I felt her nails dig across my neck. Sloppy move, because it allowed me to get my arms around her neck. I locked my wrists and twisted slightly. I heard the snap and dropped her body to the ground.

I looked over to Lucian and watched as he finished off the last guard. We would have to work fast if we wanted to finish the job. Cartajia was already starting to twitch back to life. I grabbed hold of her foot and drug her over to the pile Lucian already had made. He looked at me as I reached him. "Those are going to be some killer scars Bells," He pointed to the nail marks in my neck.

"Well, you know how partial I am to scars," I joked, bending down to ignite the pile. As the flames rose up around us, I turned to look at the knife lying on the ground covered in my blood. I sagged a bit when I realized it was a butterfly knife. Those were a bitch to fix.

Lucian noticed where I was staring and said, "Looks like we need to make a stop at the drug store to get us some stitching supplies on our way home." As soon as the smoke cleared, we locked up the front door and headed out to the car.

* * *

It was a new experience for me…getting sutures while flying in a plane. I can't say I ever want to do it again. It was especially awkward when one of the flight attendants started in with the drink cart. The way Lucian was situated in his seat allowed one of the carts to bang into his elbow, effectively causing the needle he was using to stab me in the neck.

The flight attendant looked over to Lucian and started apologizing profusely, "Oh my goodness sir. I am so sorry; are you alright," But once she noticed what he was doing to me, a confused look crossed her face. "Excuse me; could I ask what it is you are doing?" Her voice was a bit snooty which I guess was understandable considering the fact that however ineffective it would be, a needle could still be classified as a weapon.

I didn't however appreciate her tone so I was a bit rude in my response. "He is a med student and so kindly offered to stitch me up…unless you'd like me to bleed all over your little plane here, I suggest that you continue on your way and don't mention any of this. I assure you that when my friend here is done, I will personally flush everything down in the bathroom."

She looked at me with disdain before continuing her way down the aisle. Lucian snickered a bit as he continued to stitch me up. "She forgot to ask if we wanted anything to drink. Do you think I should complain?"

"I think you should finish me up so I can take a nap before we land," I said bluntly while closing my eyes. Lucian didn't respond but I could feel his body vibrate with his silent laughter next to me.

Our flight touched down an hour later at Spokane International and we made our way to the parking lot to pick up my Jeep. I made Lucian drive us back to Pullman as I was still a little groggy from my mid air nap. Apparently, I fell back asleep on the ride home because before I knew it, Lucian was shaking me awake.

He dropped me off in front of our building before heading out to meet Nikolina for their Chemistry lab. I limped my way into the building -butterfly knife wounds were a bitch- and rode the elevator up to the eleventh floor. I tossed my duffel bag on the floor and flopped down onto my bed. I rolled over to take a look at the clock. It was a good thing that our flight was early, as it left me with two hours to take another nap before I had to head over to the one place that I really wasn't that keen on going to. It was going to be horribly awkward.

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Apov

I was so excited! I had been antsy the entire week waiting for it to be two o'clock on Friday. I had missed Bella so much and our meeting on Tuesday really wasn't how I wanted us to catch up. To be perfectly honest, I was shocked at her change in attitude, but I guess considering what she does now, detachment is a safe thing. But I was still positive that I could bring the old Bella back to the surface.

When we arrived home that night, all three of us had decided to "forget" to mention our little meeting. But I refused to keep Jasper out of the loop simply because he still felt horrible about everything that happened all those years ago.

Emmett didn't want to tell our parents because their reactions were going to be priceless and we wanted it to be a surprise for them. When Bella died, Esme fell into a depression almost like the one she went into after she lost her human child…or so I was told. Carlisle was just as upset as she was and I couldn't wait to see their faces and hear my mother scream when Bella shows up in no later than an hour.

We devised a plan to get Edward to either be out of the house or up in his room when Bella gets here. Out of everyone, his reaction was the one we were all looking forward to the most. Our plan was fool proof and Jasper happily agreed to help us out with it.

I was upstairs with Rosalie and we were rearranging my closet. Emmett was downstairs trying to beat Rose's latest high score at Halo, Carlisle was up in his office doing whatever it is that he does up there, Esme was outside in the shed looking for a garden tiller and Jasper was currently occupying Edward in his room. I had just placed my last pair of heals on the correct shelf when I heard the doorbell chime downstairs. I looked up at Rosalie and she was smiling just as big as I was.

We raced down the stairs to see Emmett move for the front door. He said something to her after the door opened but I was too excited to catch what it was. But whatever Emmett had said had him laughing out loud and caused Bella to curse at him. This just had Emmett laughing even more.

I jumped the last four stairs and landed with a soft thud before throwing myself at her. I felt her stiffen when my arms wrapped around her, and I only then realized that this was crossing the line. I pulled away quickly and apologized, "Sorry Bella, I forgot that you don't like contact."

"That's fine Alice. It's not that I don't like contact, it's just that I'm only used to it from a few select people. I'm sure I'll warm up to you eventually."

It was only then that I took in her appearance. She looked a little ragged and she had a huge gauze bandage on her neck. The shorts she was wearing revealed another gauze bandage on her thigh. My eyes went wide. "What happened Bella," I asked taking her hand and leading her to the couch.

"That's what I asked and I got cursed out," Emmett said as he resumed his game.

Bella smirked a bit. "I only cussed you out because you made fun of me Em…and for the record; no I did not fall down. I don't do that anymore."

Rosalie joined us on the couch and pulled Bella's attention. "So what happened that gave you those cuts and that black eye that you're trying to hide?"

Bella brought her hand up to her face to cover what Rose had pointed out. "Is it showing through the makeup?"

"No, you're just wearing too much of it in that spot. I figured it out on my own."

"Well then, you're smarter than I thought you were," Bella quipped.

Rosalie put her arm around Bella's shoulder and laughed. "Yes, I know I'll get along with you just fine. Like I said before, you're a bitch and I love it!"

"Yeah you should love it considering how big of one you are," she replied poking her tongue out at her. Rosalie just laughed and picked up the other controller and proceeded to kill Emmett's character quickly.

We sat and watched my siblings for a bit before I asked again pointing to her bandages. "So what did you do to get those?"

"I'll tell you once everyone else is here, that way I won't have to repeat myself a million times. By the way, who all is here?"

"Everyone is here. Jasper is the only other one who knew you were coming. We wanted to let you get settled before they decide to come in and subsequently ambush you."

"Sounds good," She replied before turning her attention to the screen.

We were silent for a while before Rosalie spoke up from her seat on the floor. "Oh I forgot to ask…Bella, is your yummy blond haired friend coming over too?" Emmett scoffed from the floor but no one paid any attention to him.

"Yeah, Lucian is coming over after his chemistry lab. I hope that is okay? Neither of them wanted me to come alone." I found that odd that her friends would think that way, but I pushed it aside when I heard her mumble, "…can't put aside the rules for one day."

I let myself focus finally on her appearance. Why I hadn't done it yet I'll never know. But what I found surprised me. Bella was dressed in a plain dark green t shirt and little white shorts with a pair of leather flip flops on her feet. She still retained her style from ten years ago but I was happy to find that she had moved up to more high class designers. I couldn't tell about the shirt but her shorts were Ralph Lauren. I guess some of my style rubbed off on her after all.

It wasn't too long after that I heard Carlisle get up from his desk upstairs and move to the stairwell. I also heard Esme open up the backdoor and kick off her shoes so as not to drag dirt all over her clean floors. As soon as Carlisle reached the living room I heard his book fall to the ground. I turned to look at him and his eyes seemed about ready to fall out of his head. I heard Esme scold him from the kitchen as she made her way out to us. "Carlisle, why must you insist bringing those tomes of yours down here if you're just going to drop them on…" But the rest died in her throat when her eyes caught sight of Bella in silent hysterics on the couch. Apparently Rosalie had just killed Emmett's character again and he was currently swearing under his breath.

"Oh my word…" Esme breathed.

"How is this possible?" Carlisle finished for her.

Their voices pulled Bella's attention away from the screen. She took a long look at the two of them before standing up and walking over to them. She stuck her hand out for Carlisle to shake. She grasped his hand and said, "Good to see you again Carlisle." She let go of his hand and I smiled as it fell limply to his side. Bella turned towards Esme and offered our mother her hand. Esme just pushed it away and engulfed Bella in a tight hug. And much to my surprise Bella melted into her embrace. Clearly, Bella had no problem letting Esme embrace her and I can't say that I didn't feel a bit jealous about it.

Esme started sobbing then as she pulled her arms away from my friend. "How are you here?"

Bella smiled and I noticed her eyes had turned a bit glassy. So she had missed us! "I will explain everything once everyone is downstairs. It is a horridly long story and I don't feel like going over it twice."

"Of course, of course," Esme replied taking hold of Carlisle's hand and pulling him to the other couch. "Emmett, shut that game off and go get your brothers."

"But I am just about to kill Rosie," He whined.

"Like you actually could," Rose quipped back making everyone laugh. "Besides Mom, it sounds like Jasper is wrapping up his conversation with Edward right now."

"Oh, I can't believe I forgot!" I groaned and turned to look at Bella who was eyeing me in confusion. "Are you going to be okay with Edward here? It completely slipped my mind. It's not too late to keep him upstairs. We haven't stopped blocking our thoughts, so if Jasper has been doing his job, I don't think he'll have picked up on the Parents' thoughts yet."

She raised an eyebrow at me before turning her attention back to the game. "I don't care…why should it bother me," she asked in an offhanded voice. Her response came as a shock to me. I was certain that she would either not want to see Edward or would be terribly uncomfortable around him. But she seemed as if she could care less. My mind was instantly pulled back to her friend Lucian.

For lack of anything better to do while we waited for the two of them to emerge, I turned to the conversation Esme was holding with Rosalie as she continued to wipe the floor with Emmett. Carlisle had since picked up his book and Bella was still laughing at Emmett. But my attention was pulled away from our conversation when I heard Jasper and Edward on the second floor. I stayed facing Rosalie but from the corner of my eye I watched the stairwell, waiting to see Edward's reaction. "Jasper, why are you pulling me downstairs?" I heard Edward whine.

"Trust me brother, there is something down here you're really going to want to see," Jasper replied perfectly.

"Oh yes, because I have never seen Rosalie whip Emmett at Halo before," Edward said sarcastically.

Emmett shouted his protests instantly after Edward was finished with his sarcasm. This caused Bella to erupt in laughter again and I watched as Edward's head snapped up and his eyes scan the room. Not a millisecond later he froze where he stood as Jasper whispered something I didn't catch into his ear.

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Epov

Ever since last week, my siblings had been blocking their thoughts constantly. It bugged me but I was able to get over it. But the weirdness of the things they were thinking got really insane yesterday and it had only gotten worse from then on.

I was up in my room this morning when Jasper ambushed me. He apparently needed help on something that for the life of me I couldn't understand. After about ten minutes of his babbling, I tuned him out.

During his ranting, I focused my attention on the assignment I had for my graduate level composition class. It was only the third week in to class and already I was knee deep into it. Every week we had to analyze a new composition and implement some of the techniques we learned into the symphony we had to compose for our final grade in the class. I had a few different melodies floating around in my head but none of them seemed to fit with the theme and the one song that I already knew needed to be a part of the composition.

I don't know how long Jasper held me hostage in my room but I was getting really irritated. All I wanted was to get some quiet so I could sort out the different melodies in my head, but Jasper wasn't allowing that. I was just about ready to stab him with a pencil to get him to leave me alone when he jumped up to his feet. "Come on Edward, let's go downstairs."

"No, I need to work on this composition and you have wasted," I checked my watch and growled, "three hours of my time with a problem that frankly, I never grasped hold of."

"Oh I'm sorry man." He sounded anything but sorry. He grabbed my arm and hauled me to my feet, dragging me out to the stairs.

"Jasper, why are you pulling me downstairs?" I whined like a little five year old.

"Trust me brother, there is something down here you're really going to want to see."

"Yes because I've never seen Rosalie whip Emmett at Halo before," I replied sarcastically. Emmett heard me and shouted his protests causing everyone in the living room to laugh.

I caught a fleeting thought coming from one of them that caused me to pause. _She looks so wonderful_. It was then that I heard the laugh. It was her laugh. But that wasn't possible. One of my siblings must have been faking it. I know I have been an ass these last few years, but this was taking revenge too far. I turned into the living room to rip one of them a new one when I stopped dead.

Sitting on the couch was something that I couldn't comprehend. It was her…the love of my life, who had been dead for six years. As I just stared at her laughing form, I felt Jasper lean towards me. "Told you you'd want to see this."

Alice got up from her position on the couch and walked over to me. She looked at Jasper and they had one of their silent conversations before I felt her small little hands push on my shoulders. That got me moving from my frozen state. I hesitantly stepped towards her. I opened my mouth but what came out sounded strangled. What a time to lose the ability to speak. "Bella?"

Her head snapped up and she turned her gaze on me. What I saw took away any unneeded breath that I had left. She was extraordinary. I didn't know how it was possible or how the situation was happening period, but she looked exactly the same as she had when I left her ten years ago. But there was something different about her. Her features were sharp and angular like ours were. Her eyes were no longer the deep chocolate that I loved so much; now they were a gorgeous shade of greenish blue that I must admit, held me deeper than her brown eyes had. But the biggest difference was her smell…it was different, almost like citrus but while slightly retaining what was familiar to me.

I figured she would hate me but like all those times before, what she said surprised me. She looked at me from the couch with blatant indifference. "Hey Edward," she said politely while giving me a mock half salute before turning her attention back to the game on the screen. I don't know what I would have preferred, but the casualness of her demeanor was throwing me.

I couldn't stop what happened next. It was like my body was on autopilot as I walked over to her. I stopped right in front of her and dropped to my knees. Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around her. I felt her stiffen instantly right before she brushed my arms away. _So she did hate me_.

I pulled back and just stared at her. Even though she had rebuked me, I still felt my heart piecing itself back together. I was barley even aware that there were other people in the room with us. I was so completely lost in her eyes…and it appeared as if she was lost in mine as well. Eventually her voice broke me out of my trance. "I don't like to be touched…it's nothing personal," Bella said to me before looking over my shoulder.

"Well now, since everyone is finally here," Esme began, "how about telling us how this is happening Bella."

A small smile donned her features and it felt like my heart was going to break out of my chest. I had lived for so long without that smile that now as I was seeing it, I never wanted it to go away. Once again, her melodious voice pulled me back to the present. "Where do I begin," she sighed. My family all leaned forward expectantly, myself included. "It's a long story."

"It's not like we don't have time," Emmett quipped from his seat on the floor, earning himself a smack to the head from his wife.

"Just start where you feel comfortable darling," Esme said sweetly. I could almost feel Bella relax at her gentle words.

"Not much happened in the four years after you all left," she started. The sadness in her voice caused wave after wave of guilt to wash over me. "I finished high school and worked all summer just to keep busy. That fall my best friend Jacob and I went off to school at Washington State University where I double majored in Mythology and Medieval History."

I noticed how Alice and Rosalie stiffened at the mention of her best friend. Apparently so did everyone else because Jasper asked, "Why do I feel fury coming off of you two?"

"They just don't like my choice in a best friend Jasper…nothing to worry about," Bella replied flippantly.

"If you think being friends with a werewolf is nothing…" Alice muttered. I felt the heat rise up within me. She was hanging around with a werewolf? Didn't she know how unsafe that is?

I decided to break my silence. "You do realize how dangerous that is, don't you?" She could hear the soft growl in my voice and if I'm not mistaken, I thought I saw a haughty glint pass through her eyes before she returned to her indifference.

"Yes I am quite aware and have been for the last ten years."

"So you completely disregarded everything you promised me?" It was completely uncalled for and I had no right to be feeling so, but I was livid that she would purposefully put herself in harms way.

She didn't even dignify my outrage with a response, which if I was being totally honest, was the right thing to do. "Continuing on with my story…It was the middle of the fall semester in my senior year when it happened. And as you all know, little Alice over there, witnessed what you all thought was my death. Well clearly she was incorrect seeing as how I am sitting here talking to you all," She said causing a chuckle to come out of Emmett. She winked at him before continuing. "I went home to visit Charlie over the long weekend. Everything was fine until Sunday when I got the strangest urge to go for a stroll in the woods out back." I tried hard to suppress another growl…again with the reckless behavior. "Anyway, I walked for I don't know how long before I decided to turn around. I was almost out of the trees when I felt like I was being watched. I turned around and freaked out when I saw a pair of yellow eyes staring at me from some underbrush."

"That was the first part of what I saw," Alice interrupted as she bounced in her seat. I thought it was in poor taste to be excited while listening to someone explain their death.

"Well, that night I noticed a long scar on my forearm that I had never seen before. It was a new scar; it still had the pink tinge to it you know. So I go to bed that night all hunky dory and end up waking up in the middle of the night. It was almost instantly that I threw up, and I spent the rest of the night on the bathroom floor.

"Driving home the next morning was fine until I reached the Tri-Cities. The pain I was in became unbearable and I had to pull over. I don't know how I did it but I got myself back to school. After running into Jacob in the elevator, he carted me off to the emergency room. After inconclusive tests I was sent home. Jake took care of me that day but he had to go to the library for info on his report in our Myth class. He was only gone for two hours.

"But in those two hours was when I learned the truth. And the funny thing is, I already knew what was happening to me…in a kind of way. Well, while Jake was gone I had a visitor. I woke up and found Kafale in the corner of my room. He quickly dove into the story of what I was to become and I didn't believe him until he got to my scar. Apparently Renée had a smaller version of the exact same scar on Kafale's arm.

"He left after that and I had to explain everything to Jacob when he got back. Kafale returned that night like he said he would and that was when the transformation started."

"What do you mean transformation?" Esme asked.

Bella raised her finger to let Esme know that she was getting there. Esme sank back into her seat. "You see, the sickness I had at Charlie's was the first stage of the transformation. For the next 26 hours I was in unbelievable and excruciating pain. I am almost positive that it was worse than what you all went through." Rosalie scoffed at that earning her a slight glare from Bella. "You all felt fire…I felt myself melt from the inside out and then have everything get sucked out of me.

"I do believe the next part you also saw Alice."

"The part where your heart stops and you die," Alice asked while bouncing in her seat. I felt my face scrunch in agony. Even if it didn't happen, Bella dying in any form felt like getting stabbed.

"My heart stopping was the greatest thing I have ever felt. Everything went away after that. My body shut down and I died…and then I woke up. But I wasn't Bella anymore. I was Isabella, the new Durang."

Esme and I were confused while Carlisle looked shocked. He clearly knew something we didn't. But what irked me was the fact that Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper and Alice all appeared as if this was old news. "You four knew about this. Did you not think we would have wanted to know," I seethed at them. So that was why they were blocking their thoughts…sneaky bastards.

"Well, only Emmett, Rosalie and I knew at first. We told Jasper yesterday because we needed his help keeping you occupied until Bella got here and got settled," Alice said as if it was no big deal.

"I'm in Emmett's Abnormal Psych class and those three yahoos ambushed me on Tuesday," Bella said patting me on the shoulder. I caught her hand in mine and was able to give it a squeeze before she ripped it away.

"Why didn't you three bring her over that day," Esme asked hurt.

"That would be my fault Esme," Bella replied sheepishly. "I didn't particularly want to come over for safety issues."

"What do you mean safety issues? You are completely safe here and you always will be," She replied sounding more hurt than before.

Bella smiled at her. "I can take care of myself…it was your safety I was worried about." Carlisle apparently knew what she meant because only Esme and I were still confused. "That was another reason why I didn't show up until today. I had been out of the country until about 11:30 this morning. You all asked how I got these bandages and the black eye that I am trying too hard to hide," She looked pointedly at Rosalie and my sister just grinned back. "Well, I was on an assignment and it didn't go as smoothly as I had planned."

"Who was the target," Carlisle asked leaning forward.

Bella looked over at him and replied, "Cartajia Mareva." He looked impressed and slightly irritated.

"Cartajia was a friend of mine," he said quietly.

"She was also a Vascilli who had gotten sloppy," Bella replied bluntly. "If it's any consolation she got me with her nails and a butterfly knife before I killed her."

I was too preoccupied with the wounds that I was just now noticing she had. Two patches of gauze on her neck and thigh that were rather large. Rosalie was the one to make me realize what Bella had actually said. "She kills people…isn't that bad ass!"

"I don't like it at all and I wish I didn't have to do it!" Bella exclaimed effectively wiping the smile off my sister's face. Rosalie looked as if she had just gotten slapped. "Everyday of the last six years I have wished that my body would have shut down and actually died during my transformation. I am miserable and I wish I wasn't the savior of the human race. I wish I wasn't being hunted by world governments and Vascilli as we speak. I wish I wasn't the pet Aro want's for himself…oh yeah, they're after me too," she added when she saw our astonished gazes. "But I do it because it is what I was born to do and I am waiting for the day when I can hang it all up."

Everyone was silent as we sifted through all she had said. How could this have happened to her? Bella was supposed to be safe. She shouldn't have to delve into our world everyday…well now I guess it's her world too. It was irrational, but somehow I felt as if this was my entire fault. Maybe if I hadn't been such a coward ten years ago…maybe this wouldn't have happened to her.

"Would you please stop feeling guilty about this Edward," Bella said harshly. I looked up at her completely confused. How did she know that I was feeling guilty? "This still would have happened if you had stayed. It's genetic…I would have become this either way," she paused for a bit waiting for the thought to take shape. "And I guess I really should thank you; you leaving made me hard, effectively helping me in my job. So thanks," she said in a chipper voice.

Carlisle looked at her with intrigue. I can't remember the last time I saw his eyes dance like they were now. "What other abilities do you have?"

"Let's see shall we?" She scrunched her brow deep in thought. "Well, I am kind of like a hybrid vampire, but I only have to drink blood once or twice every two months; I eat regular food the rest of the time. Um what else…I'm faster than all of you, I'm stronger than you Emmett, I just took your ability Edward so thanks for that." She saw the confusion in our eyes and explained, "If I encounter a vampire with a strong enough power, I can tap into it and take it as my own.

"What else is cool about me? Uh…I pretty much can do everything you all can, plus I can sort of put you to sleep and I don't age."

"So you're immortal?" Alice asked with pure excitement, and for some reason, her eyes landed on me.

"No, I'm mortal…I just don't age anymore. I was 21 when the transformation took place, so physically I am 21, but chronologically I'm 28. I won't die from old age but if I get really sick or get myself shot, then yeah, I'll croak."

It continued on that way for the rest of the day. We broke off into respective groups and Bella floated around to each of them. At one point, her phone rang and I could see irritation flash over her. But she calmed down once she learned that it was just her friend calling to say that he wouldn't be coming to pick her up.

I was working up the nerve to pull her aside, but once a coward always a coward. By the time seven o'clock rolled around I could tell Bella was getting hungry. Esme heard her stomach rumble and immediately went into mother mode. "Bella dear, would you like me to make you something?"

"No thank you Esme, I need to be getting back to school. I missed my lab hours this week what with being on assignment so I need to go talk with my boss. Plus I'm sure Jacob will be wanting to know how everything went today. He was a little reluctant to let me come here. But thank you for having me."

"Thank you for coming darling," Esme replied wrapping Bella in her arms. I noticed that she didn't fight Esme off. "Please come back soon."

"I'll try my best, but you need to know that it isn't safe for you all to be around me."

"We'll take our chances," I said from behind her. She turned around at the sound of my voice and looked up at me. She seemed to be fighting some inner battle as she brought her arms up to me. It was quick and impersonal, but it was a hug nonetheless.

I watched her as she climbed into her jeep and drove down the driveway. As soon as she left my view, I retreated up to my room to mull everything over. I fell onto my couch and closed my eyes. It was impossible to believe, but it was happening nonetheless. She was back and she was with me. Well she wasn't with me per se but if I had any say in things, she would be soon. Somehow I would make things up to her…I had to…for my sanity alone.

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**Hope you enjoyed that chapter...I hope to update sooner next time, keep your fingers crossed. Review and get a sneaky peaky at chapter 5....Toodles....**


	6. February Song

**Hallo chilluns...sorry its obscenely late. I have no other explination other than the fact that I like to stay a few chapters ahead and I am currently having problems with chapter 8. I was going to write all over spring break, but only got about a page and a half written. I'm lame I know, so very sorry for that fact...and the fact that this one is shorter than the others. Enough with my groveling...ONWARD...**

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of our favorite faces...but I do own Lucian...and that makes me smile.**

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**Hunter's Map**----- Fionn Regan

_Who was that fox caught in that trap, laid with hunter's map_

**February Song**-----Josh Groban

_And I never want to let you down, forgive me if I slip away_

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The day wasn't as awful as I had thought it was going to be. Everyone was so nice…but I guess that was to be expected. I had no idea that my "death" had affected them all so much. But I must admit that it did make me feel good to know that I was missed.

I got home and was instantly ambushed by Jacob. He demanded to know everything that had happened and even after explaining how wonderful they had been, he still yelled at me for my actions. It was understandable; I mean he was the one to pick up the pieces of my tattered life after they left, but he was taking it to the extreme. The only one he should be mad at was Edward. I shook my head at him once he found out about my indifferent non-reaction to seeing Edward again. It was comical how happy he was.

The only thing I would have changed about my visit would be the physical contact. I wasn't used to it from anyone other than my parents, Jake, Lucian and Nikolina. Esme's hug was the least offensive to me; I don't think I could have rebuked her even if I wanted to. Alice was annoying and Edward was just plain weird. He was the last one I would have expected to want to embrace me. He confused me to no end and it did nothing to improve my acceptance of him.

I was a little put out when Lucian decided to not come to get me. No matter how comfortable they tried to make me feel, the whole situation was horribly awkward. Lucian was my escape and he baled causing me to spend two extra hours in their home. _I should withhold sex just to teach him a lesson_.

But it was probably better that Lucian didn't show up today. I was on thin ground with these people and I didn't want anything to derail the progress I had made on mending the relationships I had with them. It didn't escape my notice that when Lucian pulled me to his side during the meeting on Tuesday, that Alice's eyes narrowed at his possessive hold. I didn't understand it at first but after today and all of her sidelong glances between me and Edward, I understood fully well what she was cooking up.

And speaking of Edward…what was with that love filled hug. That was another one of the little talents that I posses…thanks Jasper! His power had been so strong and I had had it used on me so much that when I changed, residual effects left in my system carried over and morphed into the full blow power.

I understood why Edward would hug me, I mean he did think I was dead and seeing me was probably a welcome thing, like it had been for everyone else. And I mean, even if he didn't love me anymore, I was still his friend. This brought me around once again. Why was I feeling love for me in that hug? It was weird and was the main reason why I had shoved him away so abruptly. I couldn't figure it out so I chalked it up to not being able to wield Jasper's talent very well.

But if my suspicions were anywhere near correct-and I was reading his eyes right- then Lucian being in the same room with Edward would have probably caused some problems. It seemed that in these ten years, Edward was still in love with me…which made no sense considering the fact that he broke up with me because he felt the opposite.

But if he did still love me, Lucian would be a problem. I just know that Lucian would pull me tight to him, which frankly I wouldn't mind given the state of our weird non-relationship. Edward would see this and would most likely flip about it; this in turn would cause Lucian to defend his rightful place by my side. Even if my relationship with Lucian was just about sex, he still had more right to embrace me than Edward would have; but I just know that Edward wouldn't see it that way. He would get angry and that wasn't good for anybody.

I would defiantly need to have a talk with my ex and sort all of this out. As I left their house this evening, I knew that I would be making multiple return trips and would have to deal with them one way or another…whether I wanted to or not. Alice would make sure of that. And since Lucian was such a strong fixture in my life, I needed Edward to know this so I wouldn't have to worry about a fight breaking out anytime they are around each other.

And speaking of fights breaking out, I also needed to make it known that Jacob would be a constant fixture in my life as well. He was more crucial to my survival than Lucian was. I really didn't want anything to happen on that front.

I tucked myself in to my freshly laundered sheets that night with a sense of peace that I didn't think I could ever feel again. As much as I wanted to deny it, I was happy that the Cullen's were back in my life. It would take some time to rebuild but I knew everything would be back to how it was before soon enough. And to be perfectly honest, knowing that made me the happiest I have been in a long time.

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I woke up that Saturday to a warm presence floating just above me. As irked as I was with him, I was glad that Lucian had decided to surprise me this morning. I was in need of a little of what only he could give me. I smiled and stretched before sinking back into the sheets. I cracked open an eye so I could bring him to me, but what I saw wasn't what I wanted.

"Morning sunshine," Alice chirped from her spot not two inches away from my face.

I wanted to be upset with her, but the look on her face was too cute to pull it off. So I settled for confusion. "Alice, two questions," I said and she nodded her head feverishly. "How did you get in here, and why are you lying on top of me?"

She smiled and jumped to corner of my room before folding her legs under her. "You should know that breaking into places that I'm not supposed to be isn't a challenge for me. And I was laying on you because it always worked in the past for you with someone I know," Her voice trailed off and I knew exactly what she was insinuating.

"Lucian will be happy to know that," I mumbled to myself. I didn't think Alice would hear me from where she sat in the corner of my room but if the sad, slash confused look in her eyes was any indication, then she had heard me.

But what sadness she had was instantly wiped away when I asked her what she was doing here. Her face lit up and she sprang to her feet and walked over to my closet. "Since it is a Saturday, and none of us have that much work considering we are at the start of the semester, I thought it would be a perfect day to take a little trip to Spokane and do a little shopping. I would prefer to go to Seattle but it is kind of far away."

She turned to look at me. Her eyes were expectant and waiting for my refusal but my response simultaneously shocked and delighted her. "Why not; and if we are going to be traveling we might as well go to Seattle. With the way I drive, we'll be there in an hour. And I'm sure the others will want to go as well; at least Nikolina will."

"Who's Nikolina," Alice asked as she pulled a pair of skinny jeans and a pink and black splatter print t shirt out of my closet.

"You know how Lucian is the other Durang? Well, Nikolina is his Jacob."

Alice was silent for a moment mulling it over. Her voice was hesitant when she spoke. "Well, I guess it will be okay if she came too. We'll have to take separate cars. I mean as much as I'm okay with what you are, I still won't be able to handle the smell."

"Then you really won't want to be anywhere near me after a take down," I said lightly, making her laugh. I crawled out of bed, ran a brush through my hair and walked over to her. She held up her choice in outfit for me. It was cute but wasn't what I was going for today. "First things first," I said pulling the items out off her hands and putting them back into the closet. "You don't get to pick out my clothes anymore. I have developed style over the last ten years and I can dress myself just fine." I pulled out a fluttery dark brown skirt and plain purple t shirt. And instead of the stilettos she had chosen, I opted for a pair of leather hippy sandals. After donning what I had chosen, Alice nodded her head in approval.

Nikolina ended up not wanting to go claiming she had too much work to do, but Jake and Lucian were all in. I knew they didn't want to go shopping; they just wanted to keep an eye on me. I really hated it that they couldn't ever put the rules aside.

I rode with Alice in her Porsche back to her house as my boys followed in my Jeep. During the drive I warned Alice about what might happen considering Jacob's volatile temper and the history we all had, but Alice assured me that her siblings would be on their best behavior. By the time we pulled into the driveway, I was wishing that I had had time to sort out the mess with Edward considering the fact that he would be face to face with Lucian today.

I found it odd that he would be waiting on the porch as we pulled up to the house. He looked at me and then was instantly by my side of the car and opening the door for me. I smiled and took his proffered hand and he helped me out of the low sitting car. "You look stunning Bella," He said softly as he pulled me into a hug.

I didn't pull away from him as fast this time, but I was still horribly uncomfortable given the fact that Jacob and Lucian had since exited my car and were walking over to us. I pulled away and gave him my thanks before walking over to Alice to escape the confrontation that I knew was going to take place.

By now the rest of the Cullen kids had emerged and were standing on the porch with Alice and I. All of our eyes were trained on Edward and my two idiot friends. Emmett seemed to be the only one who had any idea of what Lucian was to me and he jumped at the prospect of making a joke about it. That, and he always had loved making fun of his brother. "The stage is set as Lucian and Jacob approach the vampire," He stage whispered making me break out into silent laughter. "Let's watch and see if they tear each other apart."

I turned away from the confrontation in front of me and walked into the house in search of Esme. I found her in the kitchen and gave her a hug which she ecstatically returned. We had a nice little conversation until I heard Alice yell for me to get a move on.

As I returned out side, I took notice of Lucian's fuming demeanor and saw that Jacob was standing next to the Jeep away from the smell that was probably overpowering him. Edward looked crestfallen and I didn't understand why. I walked over to Lucian and he pulled me to him in a tight embrace. I returned it a little less enthusiastically as I heard Edward let out a low growl. It was then that I knew why Lucian was fuming, and I understood why he was so into the PDA. I pulled away and scowled at him before walking over to Alice and Rosalie.

We jumped into Rosalie's red BMW and hit the road. Edward had opted to take his brother's in his Volvo, which I was happy to say pleased me. I didn't want to have to spend an hour in the car with him all butt hurt.

We spent the next hour catching up on everything we had missed in the last ten years. Yes we had done that yesterday, but there was still so much to cover. I shook my head at her when I learned that Rosalie got married to Emmett again. What were they on now, number 142? I told them all about living at the compound and how much of a pain in the ass Kafale was. Rosalie was interested in my fight training and I promised to teach her some of it sometime. Alice spent the time bringing up stuff from before, back when we were all still in Forks. If I didn't care anymore, I would have begged to talk about something else. But as it was, talking about it was just slightly annoying. Rosalie seemed to sense the annoyance coming off of me so she thankfully turned the conversation away from the past.

We spent a wonderful morning in Seattle down at Pike Street and the surrounding downtown area. Alice whined for an hour before we finally relented and ended up spending the rest of the afternoon at Pacific Place, so Alice could get her fill of "real" shopping.

As it turns out, Emmett and Jasper took a liking to my friends, finding them hilarious. Lucian didn't mind them and Jacob enjoyed himself once he had gotten over the smell. It made me happy that my family could get along with my old friends. It had been about an hour since I had last seen the foursome-they begged off and went to the top level of the shopping center to catch a movie, after having enough of shopping. Edward declined and opted to stay with us. Still the gentleman, even after ten years- not wanting to leave the ladies by themselves. I was glad that that aspect of him hadn't changed.

But when Alice and Rose forced me into the Victoria's Secret, Edward decided to find another venture and headed off towards the Benetton to look at sweaters. I figured the bright pink store was just a ruse to get me alone because once Edward was out of earshot, Alice and Rose turned on me. "So Bella," Rosalie began, "What is going on with you and Lucian," Alice finished for her.

I rolled my eyes and quipped back a smart ass reply. "Aren't we a little old to be talking about this kind of thing?"

"No and since we don't age, we won't ever be," Alice said pulling me towards one of the underwear tables. "Spill it Swan."

"There really isn't that much to tell. He is my partner in crime and my best friend after Jacob."

"We know that isn't true Bella…not with the way that boy looks at you," Rosalie said picking up a few pairs of underwear and heading for the register.

"And with the way he was making Edward jealous in the front yard this morning," Alice continued.

"What did Edward say to him this morning? Lucian has never been one for PDA's."

"I really wasn't paying attention but something along the lines of telling him to back off," Alice replied.

"Then I guess Lucian was just retaliating by marking his territory," I said offhandedly as we made for the entrance of the store.

"So there is something going on between you two," Rosalie said as we sat down on a bench to wait for the boys to return.

I sighed knowing that I wasn't going to win this time. "It is really warped and complicated. We've been in an on again off again relationship for the last six years…if you call sex a relationship."

"Judging by the way he acted I would say you are in the on again phase. He was clearly acting like a boyfriend this morning," Alice said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Just because I randomly have sex with him doesn't make him my boyfriend," I replied.

"So you aren't in a relationship with him," She asked, renewed hope filling her eyes.

"If you call just sex a relationship. That is all we do…its just sex. Yes I love him but we don't work as a couple. We tried but it didn't work out. Since we both have screwed up lives, we don't ever have time to date around; not that we'd want to put our baggage on an unsuspecting person. We just stick with each other because it is less complicated."

"Do you ever miss being in a relationship," Rosalie asked sounding sad for me.

"To be honest, no. The last one I was in ended badly." I could see them squirm and knew what they were thinking. "Craig wasn't a good person, and I ended it with him when he tried to date rape me." But before they could say anything on the subject, Edward reappeared with a look of mixed sadness and determination on his face. It puzzled me… I would have to ask him about it later. Not two minutes later, the rest of our group descended the escalator and we headed back to the parking garage to make the journey home.

The wonderful day I had got a damper put on it during the ride back to the Cullen house. We were probably twenty miles from home when I felt the tell tale sign of needing to feed. Lucian and I had skipped last month and I was reaping the setback from it. I would always get really weak and get a headache when I skipped a month. Lucian was probably feeling it too by now. We would need to go soon. I let out a groan from my spot in the backseat.

Rosalie looked into the rearview mirror when she heard me. "You okay Bella? You don't look so good."

"I'm okay; I just need to feed when we get back. I skipped last month and I am paying for it now." I felt the car speed up and I sent Rose a smile of thanks.

We pulled into the driveway after my Jeep and the Volvo brought up the rear. I watched Emmett, Jasper and Jacob jump out of the car and help Edward with some of the things Alice had bought. I noticed Lucian drag himself out of the car and look over at me. We must have been mirror images of each other because Emmett let out a whistle when he saw us. "What is wrong with you guys," he asked drawing everyone's attention. Edward looked up at me and was by my side in an instant. I felt his hand over my forehead but I was feeling too sick to brush him off.

I shot a glance at Lucian and he looked back at me. "Why do we skip months Bella?"

"It is because we are morons Lucian," I replied walking over to him.

Jasper looked to his siblings and then to us before he said, "I could go for a hunt. What do you all think?"

His siblings all heartily replied in the affirmative. "Okay then; let's put this stuff in the house and then we can go."

"Okay, I guess we will see you guys later. I had fun, but we really need to go to the bank."

"What do you mean, see you guys later? You're coming with us, yes?" Jasper asked.

I shook my head no when I was by the door of my Jeep. "Why not; and what do you mean by bank?" Emmett asked. "What does getting money have to do with eating."

"The blood bank Emmett." I didn't want them to know about this little fact in my life. I wish Lucian and I could have been stronger and made it away from them before the hunger set in.

"You mean you drink from humans," Edward asked incredulously. "I can't believe that Bella. After everything we all talked about?"

This was the precise reason why I wanted to keep this from them. They all looked so disappointed and the tone Edward used to address me put me on the defensive. "Well excuse me Eduardo; animal blood doesn't work for us. And yes we do drink human blood. But we don't drink from humans. We go to the blood bank and buy pints of it."

"Ha, Eduardo…we so have to start calling you that," Jasper exclaimed before exploding in laughter, earning himself a glare from his brother.

"That is so weird. Do they ever ask what you need it for? And don't you have to be a doctor or something to do that?" Emmett asked, his intrigued piqued.

"That's what forgery and fake id's are for," Lucian replied opening his door and sliding himself in.

Alice and Rose walked over to me and each gave me a hug. The boys had already gone inside the house. "Will you come back tomorrow?" Alice asked.

"I can't, I have to make up some lab hours, but I am sure you all will be stalking me on Monday; so I will see you at school." They laughed and headed for the house as we took off down the driveway.

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**Epov**

The rest of the night and into the morning I was in a state of restlessness. I couldn't get her out of my head. Granted she had always been in my mind, but now she had thrown herself to the forefront. Everything about her intoxicated me to the point that I couldn't do anything. As it was, right now I was sitting alone in my room just thinking about her and picturing her face.

In the course of the evening, I had found out where she and her friends lived and I was just about to the point of driving myself over to her home and continuing the conversation from earlier. But luckily, Alice entered my room before I could make myself look like a complete fool in front of the love of my life.

"Come on Edward, you need to get out of this room. Come downstairs and bask in your new happiness with the rest of the family, while I go over to Bella's and bring her back here so we can go shopping."

I didn't reply; I just got up off my couch and followed her down the stairs. I couldn't hold in how happy I was at the prospect of seeing her again. I was unable to find words to express my elation. Jasper cocked his head in my direction when I entered the room and he smirked at me. I did the one thing that a mature person could do to retaliate…I poked my tongue out at him.

Alice left right after I got myself settled on the couch. As I sat there watching Emmett continue in his pursuit at beating Rosalie's score from yesterday, I found that my knee wouldn't stop bouncing in anticipation. It finally got to be too much for me so I turned to Emmett and he gave me the other game controller. It was able to take my mind off of my excitement at least a little bit.

I had been playing for about a half an hour when I picked up Alice's thoughts. _Edward, mind your temper…the dog is coming and so is her friend Lucian. I don't know what his deal is either, so just watch yourself_.

Alice wasn't making sense in the last part of her thought. I knew I would need to be cool around Jacob, but why Lucian? What was the deal with him?

As soon as Alice's yellow Porsche pulled up to the house, I was over by the passenger side and was opening Bella's door. She smiled up at me and took my hand. I pulled her up out of the car and brought her to me…and was pleasantly surprised when she didn't pull away. But it ended as soon as she looked over at whom I assumed to be Lucian. His eyes had taken on a dark color that put me on edge. Was this what Alice had meant?

Bella pulled away from me and walked up to greet my siblings at the porch, as her friends walked towards me. I could hear Emmett making some ridiculous comments from up on the porch but I tuned him out and focused on the two standing before me.

"Cullen," Jacob addressed me with disdain. I could understand why he would be upset with me, but that didn't explain why the other one would be looking at me murderously.

"Jacob, I want to thank you for taking care of her," I said with as much emotion I could. Even if Bella never wanted me back, I would be forever in his debt.

"Yeah…don't make me regret letting her be around you." His voice was hard as he turned back to the Jeep. I looked over at Lucian and introduced myself. He continued to glare at me.

_He better back the fuck up. After what he did, I can't believe she even wants to be around him. He just better know that she is mine! I know you can hear me…back off!_

I let out a growl but didn't say anymore as Alice yelled for Bella to come back outside. She walked over to me, put a restraining hand on my chest in warning and said too low for anyone else to hear, "You have no right to get upset for her doing the one thing you so vehemently asked her to do!"

"It still doesn't change the fact that I am upset by it Alice," I shot back at her. But Alice turned away and walked over to Rosalie's car as Bella emerged from the house.

As soon as she appeared, Bella took notice of Lucian's fuming demeanor and went over to him. He pulled her into a tight hug and crashed his lips to hers forcefully. I fought hard to bite back the growl but I couldn't hold it in when he opened his eyes and smirked at me…all the while still kissing her. He was taunting me.

Bella pulled away from him and gave him a scowl before jumping into Rosalie's BMW. I couldn't stop the smug feeling from creeping up on me at the fact that she didn't like him so forcefully embracing her. If I recall, she never once got upset with me after I was done kissing her.

It only took us an hour to make it to Seattle. I couldn't help but marvel the fact that Bella was cool with the high speeds now. We spent an enjoyable morning at Pike Place Market and it was made even better when I caught Bella casting her eyes my way a few times. Perhaps all wasn't lost.

Alice had been complaining about wanting to go "real" shopping but we were able to hold her off. That was until Emmett kept trying to get one of the fish vendors to toss some fish to him. We packed it in after that and relented to Alice.

My brothers seemed to be getting along with Bella's friends quite nicely. And I had to admit, even though he still wasn't too warm to me, Jacob was a pretty cool guy…once I got over the smell. They all took off for a movie but I opted to stay and keep the ladies company.

We had an enjoyable time wandering around together and as much of a pain Alice made shopping, with Bella there, it wasn't too bad. I got to hear more about what her life had been like and was shocked to learn about how much she hated it. It seemed that she was happy, but she quietly informed me-while my sisters lunged ahead of us- that she hadn't been happy in a long time.

And I couldn't help but feel like it was partly my fault, which indeed it was. During our meeting this morning, Jacob had sent me some mental images of what Bella had been like after I forced us to leave. If I could have, I would have thrown up from the grief I felt at seeing her like that. She had looked so frail and weathered. I couldn't believe that I did that to her. It made me sick to think that I had hurt her so badly. After seeing her like that, it made me realize that I didn't even know myself anymore. I didn't want to be that guy anymore.

Bella had apparently sensed what I was thinking because I felt her give my hand a small squeeze before she hurried to catch up to my sisters. I vowed then that I would do everything in my power to make it up to her.

As much as I never wanted to be away from her, I had to beg off when I saw where they were headed to next. Bella laughed at me and waved before heading into the vibrantly pink store. I headed down a few stores to the Benetton to look at some sweaters. There ended up being a good selection and I made my way out of the store with two sweaters: a dark grey wool one and a brown cashmier one.

As I headed back to the girls I slowed my pace as I picked up their conversation. It was wrong to eavesdrop but I couldn't help myself. "So you aren't in a relationship with him," I heard Alice ask. What was this?

"If you call just sex a relationship. That is all we do…its just sex. Yes I love him but we don't work as a couple. We tried but it didn't work out," Bella replied leaning her head back against the wood of the bench. I hightailed it away from the conversation after that. I didn't want to hear it anymore. While I was ecstatic that she wasn't dating Lucian, that didn't change the fact that she was having casual sex with him. It made the blood in my system boil knowing that he was allowed to touch her.

It was insane. Like Alice had said, I had no right to be upset with the fact that Bella did what I asked her to do. She found someone else. While I was sort of happy for her, I really wasn't happy for her at all. She should still be with me. Why did I have to muck it up all those years ago?

I made myself known to the girls when it looked as if their conversation was over. My brothers and the other two showed up a few minutes after I did and we all headed for the parking garage. My mood turned bleak and I felt as if there was a black cloud following me for the entire drive home.

My mood turned even worse when I learned that Bella drank human blood. I couldn't believe it. She had seemed so captivated by our lifestyle all those years ago, that I couldn't understand why she would veer away from it. But once I learned that her body rejected animal blood-she had gotten terribly sick from her first feed- and she only drank from the blood banks, I was a little less upset. And in the tiniest way possible…I was a little jealous.

I retreated up to my room as soon as her Jeep was out of the driveway. I needed time to think over everything I had learned about her today. The one thing I knew for sure was that if I was going to pursue her, I needed to take it slowly and delicately. I had broken her ten years ago, and it seemed as if her life since had broken her down further. I would need to make sure everything was perfect before I tried anything. I would not…could not, screw this up again.

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**Thanks for readin'...leave me a review and get a sneaky peaky at numba 7...Toodles...**


	7. Let That be Enough

**Hey Hey Hey, So what is my excuse this time you ask? Well, I went to Seattle one weekend, My mom came up to school for Mom's Weekend, I got sick, and I had a giganto research proposal that I had to present. What can I say...school is hard! Anywhoo...I am currently in the middle of Dead Week studying for finals. I have four of them next week and will be done on Wednesday the 6th. And then I am off to summer which should hopefully entail faster updates, considering I am just about past this current bout of writer's block. But on the good news, I know exactly what the main meat of action will be and I am almost ready to start writing that part. I think there is only going to be four more chapters and an epiloge left to this little monstrosity. I never planned for it to be a long one. So here is the next installment...hope you enjoy...ONWARD...**

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of our favorite faces...but I do onw Lucian...and that makes me smile**

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**Hunter's Map**-----Fionn Regan

_Who was that fox caught in that trap, laid with hunter's map_

**Let That Be Enough**-----Switchfoot

_And I feel stuck watching history repeating, Oh am I just a kid who knows he's needy_

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"I don't want you going over there by yourself," Lucian seethed from the chair at my desk.

I turned to him, confusion evident on my face. The tenor in his voice was unusual. "Why? Nothing is going to happen; these people are my friends…or at least they used to be. Besides, it's not like I'm not ever going to see them. Alice stalks me constantly while on campus and Emmett is in one of my classes."

He looked at me and I couldn't place what he was trying to tell me. He seemed to be abnormally against the idea even though he had a blast with them last weekend. "I don't like the way he looks at you." So that was it. He was jealous. It gave me a small thrill, but what Lucian said next took it all away. "It will give him too much opportunity…you are not going over there by yourself."

There was order in his tone and it made me bristle. He was no one to be giving me orders. I was his higher up. And the fact that this order was made out of personal reasons that he had no right to be making, just made the situation that much more offensive. I turned an incredulous glare on him. "Okay, for one, just no; and two, Edward would never do anything untoward." I walked to the door of my room and grabbed my keys out of my night stand. "You are not to give me orders Lucian, especially when they are bred from personal reasons. It would be in your best interest to be gone by the time I get back. And to ease your unwarranted apprehension, I am going over there to work with Emmett on a project for class." The door banged shut behind me.

I was full on fuming by the time I reached my car. And my mood only worsened when I got to the house. Esme met me by the door and I found out that Emmett had forgotten our meeting and had forced his siblings out for a game of paintball.

I cracked my neck in annoyance and turned for my car when I heard her call to me. "You don't have to leave darling. I would love it if you would keep me company." I really didn't want to go back to my room; I had a feeling that Lucian would still be there, probably fuming at me. The prospect of spending time with her did sound welcome so I nodded my head and followed her back into the house.

We had a wonderful morning out in the vegetable patch catching up on events of the past week. I learned that she had had a cold run in with one of her neighbors down the road. Apparently, the woman's dog had gotten out and Esme found the little rascal in the back yard. When she took the animal home, the woman had somehow turned the situation around and made it seem as if the entire problem were Esme's fault. It all sounded ridiculous to me and Esme walked away from the situation just as perplexed as I was listening to the story.

After retreating back into the house, Esme remembered that she needed to run to Spokane for some more paint to finish some crafty item that she needed to complete. Apparently the neighboring areas were out of the particular color she needed so the trip was warranted. She apologized profusely, and I was told to stay at the house as she wouldn't take longer than an hour. I obliged simply because nothing back at my room could pull my attention or desire.

I had been sitting on the couch for no more than maybe five minutes when I noticed it sitting tucked away in the far corner of the room. My eyes were immediately drawn to the rich cherry wood as it sat perched on its stand. I didn't feel as if it was my place to play it but the prospect was too tempting. It had been so long since the last time that my fingers were itching to grab hold of it.

I cast a fleeting glance about the room to make sure I was really alone. When the coast was clear, I got up off the couch and hesitantly stepped towards the beautiful piece. As soon as it was situated under my chin, I felt the world melt away from me. All I knew was the deep note that resounded as I drug the bow across the strings.

The tune was haunting and it pulled at me from deep within. When I had been learning how to play all those years ago, I had specifically sought out something that would reflect my dark existence. It had taken about a year to find, but as soon as I heard the opening notes, I knew this was my song. It was the first that I learned to play without sheet music to guide me. It was almost as if after one listen, the notes were burned into my memory.

I was so into the notes I was creating that I didn't even notice that he had appeared. As I drug the last note out across the bow, his voice brought me out of my musical coma. "How long have you played."

I looked up at him and smiled. He was sitting on the bottom step with his knees hugged tight against his chest. He looked like a small child enraptured with what he had just witnessed. I smiled at him once more. "I learned about four years ago. I was bored one night and during one of my many circuits of the compound, I found an old dusty violin tucked away in one of the store closets. The moment I saw it…"

"It was like it was meant for you, right," Edward asked getting up and walking over to me.

"Exactly." It was only then that it dawned on me that it might not have been okay that I played it. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to overstep my place but when I saw it sitting there, I just couldn't help myself."

But he stopped my apology and my hands from putting the violin back onto its perch. "Don't…it is no problem. No one ever touches that thing, and frankly I don't even know why we have it. But I'm glad someone finally played it. It is a beautiful instrument and deserves to have someone just as beautiful make it sing."

His words made me blush, and I didn't understand why. I don't do that much anymore. I just figured it was because I had learned to control that particular reaction. But as he took the bow from my hands to set it back on the perch, I realized the real reason why. I hadn't been paid a complement in a very long time…at least not one that I took to heart. It felt nice.

"How long did it take you to learn to play? It sounded magnificent," he asked, leading me over to the couch.

"It only took about a year," His eyes widened in shock. "I know right. I had a lot of time on my hands. It had been a slow year; not that many assignments, so I used the time to my advantage. It is funny; I had never before had any interest to learn, until I found it that night."

"Well, I cannot say it was the same for me," Edward chuckled. "I was forced to learn piano when I was human and then as the years passed I grew fonder of it. But I guess you know that already."

I took in his sheepish expression and was reminded of the last time I had seen that look come from him. It had always been one of my favorites even if I didn't see it often. And I was delighted to know that his eyes still held that mischievous sparkle even while he was being coy.

As I took him in, I was overcome with the desire to be around him. Even though he held no deep seeded feelings for me, I still longed to be in his company. It was then that I realized that I missed my friend. A new feeling of delight washed over me in that moment.

We stayed together in silence for a while both consumed in the pleasure of each other's company. I had picked up a random book from the coffee table and was currently engrossed with it. But every once in a while my concentration would be pulled away. I kept feeling his gaze on me and I caught his eye a few times. Each time he looked away quickly; the corner of his mouth turned up in a small smile.

It had been a good half hour since I felt his gaze, only coming to realize that he hadn't been paying any attention to his book. It had been a while since I last heard the ruffling of the pages. I looked up at him and saw a mix of anxiety and determination written on his face. "Is something wrong Edward," I asked putting my book aside and placing my hand on top of his.

His fingers instantly wrapped around mine and he looked at me. "There are some things that I feel I need to explain to you Bella," His voice sounded a bit frightened so I squeezed his hand in reassurance. "I don't want to be interrupted when I tell you this and since I have no idea when anyone will be home; how about we go for a stroll."

I smiled and felt him pull me to my feet. I brought my hand away from his as we exited through the kitchen door. We walked a good distance from the house and into the trees until we came to a stop at a cleared out area. Edward sat us down on the wooden bench swing and got us swinging with a push of his feet.

He didn't say anything for a while and I was getting impatient. It had never been a strong suit of mine while I was human, and time certainly didn't do me any favors in that respect. I was just about to open my mouth to get the conversation started when I felt him slip his hand back and curl his fingers around mine. "Bella, I want you to understand first off that this is going to be hard for me. I have kept this with me for ten years and I need to get it out. You deserve to know."

His words confused me to no end. What could he have possibly kept from me that I would need to know? But as much as his words puzzled me, they scared me more than anything else. The last time we had a talk like this, it didn't end well.

Edward took a deep, unneeded breath before he began. "I'm sorry for how things turned out between us. I have regretted my actions every day for the last ten years. I handled everything so wrong that day," His words were soft and filled with passion. Why was he telling me this? Why was he bringing up the one thing that caused me to shatter so fully all those years ago? "Can I ask you a question," after nodding my head he continued, "Why Lucian?"

Huh? What does Lucian have to do with anything? "What do you mean why Lucian?"

"I overheard your conversation with my sisters on Saturday." My eyes grew wide with shock. He had been a few stores down from us. I didn't think my voice carried that far. "My question is; why do you stay with someone who you don't love? Surely it must be hard for you and if he knows, even harder for him."

I couldn't believe he was saying this to me. He had no right to tell me how to live my life. If I wanted to have mindless sex with someone I cared about then that was my prerogative. I bit off a harsh reply. "Well for one, you don't have the right to ask me that question, and you should feel lucky that I am even giving you an answer, and two, if you don't have sex for awhile, you get frustrated. Lucian and I get frustrated quite regularly, and since we can't burden ourselves on anyone else, we turn to each other. I feel safe with him because I still care about him and he cares for me." I turned away from him in my anger. His question angered me so much that I didn't even want to be talking to him at this point.

I made to get up off of the wooden swing when I felt his hand pull be back down. "I'm sorry; it was not my place to ask. It is like what Alice told me on Saturday; I have no right to be upset for you doing the one thing that I asked you to do. But the truth is, I have been terribly jealous this past week."

Well that was certainly odd. "Why would that make you jealous," I asked tentatively.

His eyes found mine and locked their hold. His voice was soft and for the first time since reuniting with him, it took on the velvety quality that it had ten years ago. "It makes me jealous because I am in love with you."

Hold on! What?!?! I looked at him with raised eyebrows and a gaping mouth. "How is that even possible?" My voice didn't betray my bafflement.

"I lied."

I pushed my fingers to my temples in frustration. "You're going to have to give me a straight answer here Edward," I moaned in confusion.

He took my hands away from my head and held them in his own. "I lied to you that day in the woods. I didn't want to leave anymore than you wanted me too. I was just too overcome with guilt at what my existence had caused for you that I didn't have the heart to ask you to continue to live through it. It was too dangerous for you to be around me and through my selfishness, I indulged you. But that night of your party was the straw to break my back. It was enough that you were prone to danger anyway, but to have my family bring more to you…it was unthinkable. So I did what I thought was best to keep you safe," His words hit me with even more confusion than I had been feeling before. As I was about to counter him, he cut me off. "I knew you would never let me go if I asked you to. So I lied to make it easier. But I never expected for you to believe me. I was so sure you would laugh in my face and tell me what a horrible actor I was. Part of me prayed that you would say those things.

"The moment you understood what I was saying, was almost my undoing. The look on your face still haunts me to this day. I said every hurtful thing I could think of to make you let me go, and I walked away even though I still loved you.

"And I have never stopped loving you. Even when you died- which by the way was even harder to deal with- I never stopped loving you and I don't think I ever will. I love you in this very instant. And the only thing running through my mind right now is: will you take me back? I am thinking it now, even though I have no right to ask it of you. But I love you too much not to."

I sat dumbfounded on the wooden swing. I played over his words in my head countless times in the course of maybe two minutes. He left because it was what was best? He didn't want to bring me any more danger? Or was he just too big of a coward to commit to something bigger than the both of us?

I had played over this exact moment in my head so many times in those first years after he left, and none of what he had said in my mind was anywhere near what he was telling me now. I didn't know what to think. It was such bad timing.

I continued to wear an expression of bafflement as I tried to sort out his words. Edward clearly had had enough of my dumb silence when he took my face in his. "I love you Bella. Won't you say something; the wait is unbearable to me."

"Well that sucks," I said a bit out ironically. His brow furrowed in confusion as his eyes searched mine for meaning. I placed my hands over his which were still resting on my cheeks, and brought them to my lap. "Edward," I began softly, "When you left, my heart died. I was a mess…a walking mess. I stopped talking, sleeping, eating. I just existed day in and day out, but my life held no meaning.

"What you said to me that day was true. Time does heal wounds, but it didn't heal mine. It only allowed me to function like a normal person. Jacob helped with that. He pieced me back together and I was able to feel human again. But I still wasn't whole and I didn't think I ever would be.

"But the truth is Edward, I am whole now. I accepted the fact that you didn't love me anymore and I was able to rebuild myself with the knowledge that it would have been what you wanted. I rebuilt myself for you, and through it all, I became whole again.

"Edward, if you had told me all of this eight years ago, I would've been jumping into your arms and crying with joy right now." He was about to interrupt but I silenced him with what I uttered next. "But the truth is; I'm not in love with you anymore Edward."

He was silent for a few beats before breathing a sigh. "It was too much to think that you would still feel for me as I do for you. While I am heartbroken, I am overjoyed that you are finally happy."

I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him to me. "I wish things were different too Edward, I really do."

I took my arms from him and got up off the swing. "I know I shouldn't ask but…is there any chance of us again?"

I studied him for a short while taking in all of his features. He was still just as beautiful as he had been before, and he still held everything that I had loved about him. He was still my Edward…time hadn't changed anything. I gave him a small smile. "I don't know…I guess anything is possible."

"Then I will stop at nothing to change your mind," He called to my retreating form.

"You wouldn't be you if you didn't," I tossed back to him over my shoulder as I continued on my way back to the house.

* * *

It was hard to accept what Edward had told me three weeks ago. When you spend ten years of your life believing one thing only to come to realize that it was all based on a lie; it's hard to swallow. Edward apparently never stopped loving me. I had wanted that for four years and now that I actually have it, I don't really know if I want it anymore. It was such bad timing.

It did however give a boost to my pride to learn that he was jealous of Lucian. But I guess I'm vain like that.

Edward had begged me to take him back and while I would have jumped at the opportunity a few years ago, it wasn't the case now. I don't love him anymore so why on earth would I tell him that winning me back was a possibility. It would only give him false hope.

I really didn't think it was going to happen either. Yes he still retained all of the character traits that made me fall in love with him in the first place, but things had changed…I had changed. I wasn't that small helpless little girl that he was in love with anymore. I was a badass vampire hunter with quite a few hits on my head at the moment. It was bad enough that I was spending time with them period. Anymore extra time would just be adding fuel to the already blazing fire of stupidity.

Plus, even if I did feel the same for him, I knew Edward would want to and probably would treat me like that little girl again. And that was something that I would not tolerate. I know he would do everything in his power to keep me safe from the dangers of my life and he'd probably get himself killed in the process of holding me back from doing what I had to do.

Not to mention I was flighty. I had no idea when I would be called out on an assignment or when I would be needed at the compound, and since things of that nature were highly classified, I would have to sneak around behind his back; something he would not tolerate. I was already sneaking around on them enough as it is.

Things needed to change in this weird and convoluted relationship I had with my once best friends. If I was smart, I would sever all the ties right now. But I really wasn't that smart if the call I took from Alice on my way home today was any indicator.

She had called to inform me of the fun filled night of activities that she and her siblings had planned for me. She didn't give me the chance to ask what we were going to be doing before hanging up on me. That girl really drove me nuts!

I held my breath as I neared my room. I was worried that Lucian might still be there ready to complain some more. He was still greatly upset by my actions three weeks ago- so upset that it was to the point that we were in the off again phase…again. He was positive that by withholding sex from me, I would cave and apologize to him. But to be perfectly honest, it was relief to not have to worry about it anymore. Edward professing his love would cause an increase in the animosity between him and Lucian, and that was something I didn't need right now. Everything would be so much easier if I were single.

I tentatively opened the door to an empty room; I breathed out and tossed my bag onto my bed. I had just booted up the internet to do some research on the project that Emmett had abandoned me on when I heard my blackberry buzz from my bag. Thinking it was Alice calling to inform me that she had decided to kidnap me early, I picked up the phone ready to lay into her when I noticed the long distance number flash on the screen. The only long distance number I knew was for the compound and this one wasn't the same number. My guard instantly went up as I picked up the line. "Hello?"

"Isabella, are you alone?" A voice I didn't recognize asked over the line.

"Who is this?"

"I'm sorry; I figured you would recognize the number. This is Brennor, from the lab."

Of course, now I recognized the voice. Brennor was the lead researcher on Vascilli anatomy up at the compound. But what I didn't understand is why he was calling me. The lab never called me directly. They would always feed the information through others before it reached my ears. Things had to be really important if they were calling me personally. "What can I do for you Brennor," I hesitantly asked.

"How fast can you get the team up here? There has been a development."

That was all he offered. But the tone of his voice sent me into action mode. "We can be there by early morning. Do we need to bring anything?" It would slow us down if we had to bring the equipment.

"Just bring yourselves and enough belongings for at least a few days. I don't know how long it will take, but things are going to be getting intense up here."

I didn't even bother to protest about school. From what it sounded like, what was going on up there was a lot more important than research projects and pissing off an annoying little Ethos. "We'll be there in the morning. Is there anything else you can give me Brennor?" It would be helpful to have a bit more info to go on so I knew what I was getting myself into.

"I can't say more. I'm on the unsecured basement line." Things must be bad if he were calling from an unsecured line.

"We'll be there soon. Front entrance or straight to the lab?"

He paused for a second and I heard a crash sound over the line and some high pitched kneeing sound before another clatter of noise. It sounded like some of the metal shelving had been knocked over. His voice sounded rushed and harried when he responded. "Meet me strait at the back entrance of the lab. No one knows about this yet. You were the first I thought to inform. This is huge Isabella. Get here as soon as possible." I heard another clatter of noise right before the line died.

I didn't even think as I jumped up and started stuffing clothes into my duffel. I had my computer and everything I would need packed in about five minutes and I wasted no time calling in the troupes. Jacob and Nikolina didn't need any convincing before I had them packing. I dialed the last number and Lucian picked up mid ring sounding just a bit smug. "Calling to apologize darling?"

"Okay no, and now is not the time. We need to get up to the compound by morning," I spit out irritated.

"What's wrong," He asked sounding more professional.

"I don't know. I just got a direct call from the lab. It's something big Lucian. Jake and Nik are already packing. Meet us in the lobby in ten." I hung up before he had any chance to reply.

I didn't know what was going on…but it was big. And that had me worried.

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**Apov**

"Would you please stop bouncing! Gosh, you're acting as if you haven't seen her in forever. Did you not get your fill during your last stalking session yesterday?" Rosalie asked from her position on the floor. I was too anxious for Bella to get here today. I really wanted to make her feel like she could trust us again, so I devised the plan for this evening.

She had mentioned to me a long time ago that her all time favorite game- no matter how old she got, she would still love it- was Manhunt. I didn't know what it was at the time so after doing a little recon, I found out that it was basically just a huge game of tag in the dark.

It saddened me that she didn't feel completely comfortable around us anymore and I wanted to fix that. Bella had only mentioned the game once, in passing, so I hoped that by formulating a game would show her how much we cared. "I'm sorry Rose, but I am just so excited! This game really sounds fun and I really want Bella to enjoy it."

"What time did you tell her you were going to kidnap her?"

"At about five. That way it will be dark by the time we get back to the house."

Rosalie flipped the page in the magazine she was reading and replied, "Well, if you're so anxious, just go get her now. It's not like you've never pulled that one on her before."

I ignored she snigger before heading for the door. I called out over my shoulder, "Get the boys ready while I'm gone. I want the game to start as soon as we get back." And then I was in the car, speeding down the road.

I knocked on her door not too long after I left the house. Bouncing on the balls of my feet, I waited for Bella to open the door. And I waited…and waited…and waited.

After an hour Rose called my phone, wondering what the hell was taking so long. Apparently Emmett was acting like an impatient little kid and it was making everyone irritated. I told her the story and listened as she filled in our siblings. I distinctly heard Edward say something about coming over here and I quickly told Rose to make him stay put. I didn't need him coming over here and making a scene. I had already caused enough of that by waiting outside her door for an hour. I hung up the phone not too long after.

Another hour rolled by and by now it was 5:45. Forty five minutes had passed since the time I told Bella that I would be picking her up, and she still wasn't here. I started to get a little worried. And that worry increased ten fold when I picked the lock on her door and entered her room.

It was a disaster area. But this mess wasn't the normal type she lived in. This mess looked as if there had been a struggle of some kind. Or perhaps she had had to make a hasty exit. Clothes were strewn all across her floor as if her closet and dresser had exploded and there were computer cords lying discarded on the desk.

I breathed in deep but couldn't catch any scent but hers and a fleeting drift of Lucian's pungency. Once again I felt the stab of heart break for my brother, but now was not the time to dwell on it. I needed to focus on the task at hand here.

My eyes scanned the entire room and I quickly crossed off "struggle" as a possible answer for the mess in here. I moved over to her desk only to realize that the cord lying forgotten on the table was her internet cord. The power cable and surge protector was nowhere in sight.

The clothes discarded around the room were what were bothering me the most. Bella was one to leave dirty clothes lying around…but these were freshly washed. Why would she do that? I moved over to her closet and noticed that her duffel bag was missing, as were the pair of God awful combat boots she owned. I knew in that minute what was wrong. Bella had run. For what or _from_ what, I didn't know. But I was determined to find out…even though I was worried out of my mind.

* * *

**Epov**

When Alice had called and said that Bella wasn't in her room, I instantly got worried. We had talked on the phone last night, and when I asked if she wanted to spend time together before the next night, Bella had told me that she had a mountain of work she needed to do for one of her classes; she would be holed up in her room for the entire day until Alice came to collect her that night. I knew that it wasn't an excuse to get out of spending time with me; even if she didn't care for me that way anymore, she still liked me enough to hang around me. She'd said so as much.

When I moved to get up off of my seat and go over to Bella's place to see for myself, Rose had ordered me to stay where I was…or I should say Alice ordered me via Rose. Either way, it only ratcheted up my apprehension.

Six o'clock came and went and I was about ready to jump out of my skin. I was fidgeting and running my hands through my hair so much that strands had started falling out. I was just about ready to get up and go to Bella's despite my sister's warning when I heard the front door open. My anxiety melted away thinking that Bella had finally arrived.

But only Alice walked around the corner, and she was wearing a mask of confusion and worry. Jasper was at her side instantly, guiding her to the couch. I had only seen that look on her face once before, and I knew that I couldn't stand the heartache that that look brought, again. I couldn't form the words to ask what I so needed to ask. Jasper had to ask it. "Alice," he began slowly, "what's wrong? Where is Bella?"

Her eyes flitted around all of us and then went glassy as she searched the future, hoping the answer might lay there. I watched in fear as she scrunched her face in frustration. Her eyes flitted around again before resting on the black television screen. Her voice was soft and filled with worry. "I don't know. I waited for two hours and she wasn't there."

"Maybe she had to go out…to the psych lab maybe," Emmett ventured to guess.

"No, she's gone." At Alice's words, I felt an eerie thudding where my dead heart rested. "I broke into her room…it was trashed. Clothes were everywhere…her computer was gone, as were her duffel bag and those boots that I hate. She's just gone. And I have no idea what could have happened."

"Well, did anyone try calling her?" I asked, my voice sounded harsher than I'd intended due to the fear running through me. When no one responded I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I dialed her number and waited. It rang and rang and went to voicemail. I left her one. I called again five minutes later…three rings and then voicemail. I didn't bother leaving another. Ten minutes of silence later I tried again. Straight to voicemail. This was bad…and I was out of my mind with fear.

I looked into the eyes of my siblings; all of them asking the same unspoken question. I shook my head and my eyes conveyed what I couldn't say. She was gone…and something was terribly wrong.

* * *

**Bpov**

Even with the speeds that we drove, the drive through the Canadian tundra seemed to drag on and on…even more so than it usually did. My mind wouldn't rest; too many different scenarios were playing themselves out, and none of them involved anything good.

I didn't mention to my friends the crashing sounds that I heard through my phone while talking with Brennor. That was something that I didn't think they would be able to handle. After hearing it, I knew it was the tell tale crash of a struggle. Someone had broken in and was wreaking some unknown havoc. The compound was our home…our one and only place of sanctuary. If it had been broken into, then we had no place left to feel safe. My friends didn't need to share that burden.

For all they knew, Brennor had made some remarkable discovery regarding Vascilli anatomy. But I knew while speaking with him that that wasn't the case. We were in trouble…it was a stressor that I would bear alone until the last possible moment.

I looked at the illuminated numbers on the dash and groaned silently to myself. I was officially three hours late for meeting Alice. By now she was most defiantly pissed.

I felt my phone buzz in my back pocket and by the time I wrestled it free, I had missed whoever had called. I really didn't need to look to see who it was, but with one click into my missed calls folder, my suspicions were proved correct. I tossed the phone into the cup holder and returned my attention to the road in front of me.

About ten minutes after it buzzed informing me that I had a voicemail, my Blackberry buzzed again. I left it alone in the cup holder. He would call one more time before he fully started to freak out. And since we just passed into the long stretch of highway where I got no service, his last call would go straight to voicemail. He would construe this as me turning my phone off and that would only cause more panic to well up in his system. I would have to call him back when we made it to the compound. It would earn me a tongue lashing, but my overseers would just have to deal with it.

The others had fallen asleep on me and I was left to deal with my imaginings for the remainder of the drive. I didn't know who had broken into the compound and I didn't know who would be dumb enough to try the feat. That place was virtually an impregnable fortress. You couldn't even get out of the place without having to go through mountains of red tape. I had found that out the hard way.

It was two years into my new life when Jacob and I had returned from a takedown. It was supposed to be routine, but something happened that caused the whole thing to go under. It was the time I accidentally killed someone. Jacob had been blindsided and got his leg broken while I was powerless to help. After tossing Jake aside, the Vascilli turned on me, and with speeds that I had never seen before, had his teeth in my neck. I don't know how it was possible, but I found the strength to grab hold of his face. I tore him off me and promptly broke his neck.

I could feel my heart faltering and I collapsed to the floor, writhing in agony. Jake drug himself over to me and pulled out the emergency syringe. After stabbing it into my thigh, he set the body aflame, and lumbered out the door, with my paralyzed body slung over his shoulder.

I came to not long after we made it back to the compound. By the time I was able to move, I had already been berated to within an inch of my sanity. He wasn't supposed to be killed. I was supposed to bring that vascilli back alive. After Kafale departed for parts unknown, I broke down. I cried for what seemed like forever; not letting up until it was the middle of the night and black as pitch.

My body was tired and my mind was broken with what I had done. I had only killed two others before, but that was because I was ordered to. This kill wasn't supposed to happen; even though I would have died if it hadn't. The thought still sickened me and after the mental beating I took from Kafale, I was done. I couldn't do it anymore, so I gathered my meager belongings into my duffel and opened the window. My room was on level two, so the drop wouldn't be terrible. I landed with a thud and hurried toward the front gate. Little did I know that the lawns were riddled with trip wires that alerted Kafale to my escape, and I was ambushed before I had even passed the first razor fence.

So, to make a long story short, it would be near impossible to break into this place. I was very highly skilled and if I couldn't even manage to break _out_, I didn't want to know who could break in.

Jacob was the first to wake as we drove through security and he roused the others for me. I handed over our badges to the guard at the gate and we were allowed to pass through. But instead of going to the main entrance like I was supposed to, I hung a sharp left and took the dirt road around the outskirts of the campus.

We pulled into one of the loading bays in the back of the lab on level one and I shut off the engine. I pulled my seldom used Glock out of the center console and shut my door quietly. After slipping it into the waistband of my jeans, I headed for the steal door. Lucian punched in the eight digit access code that only he and I knew and we entered a 4x2 concrete room. After Nikolina shut the door, I punched in the id code for S4 and the floor sunk down, taking us with it.

Brennor's lab was located on S2 but he had been calling from the lab on S4. That was where the tests of the highest level of classification took place. We did our live trials down there; so if someone was making a clatter in S4, it could only mean that a vascilli found out about our tests and had attempted retrieval. I didn't know who the latest test subject was, but they must have been important to warrant retrieval.

As we sank lower and lower underground, I felt the pressure build behind my ears as it became uncomfortable. The floor finally shuddered to a halt and the wall slid open to reveal a sterile tiled hallway. I led my confused companions toward the airlock at the end of the hallway. As soon as the door sealed shut Jacob rounded on me. "Okay, I have been quiet long enough. Why are we on Sub level 4? Brennor is on S2," his voice was hard.

"I can't explain everything because I don't know everything myself," I replied as the air surrounding us was sterilized. "I didn't want to burden you all with this until I had to. There has been a break in." Three sets of eyes bugged but before any of them could say anything, the airlock opened and we were able to step into the lab.

It was trashed. Tables were overturned and expensive equipment lay broken on the floor, the shelving had been ripped from the walls. There was no sign of the culprit but I could hear Brennor cussing near the back of the lab. We walked toward his voice and I called out to announce our arrival, "Brennor, you back here?"

There was a clatter and some more cussing before Brennor emerged from the back office looking a lot worse for the wear. His hair was disheveled and one of the arms of his lab coat was almost completely ripped off. He broke out into a smile after taking sight of us. "Good you four are here! Can you believe it; a break in? How is that possible?"

"What happened Brennor," Nikolina asked sitting atop the only upright table.

"I couldn't tell you my dear. I was down here making some final changes on a much classified new weapon when I got my head bashed in. Luckily the bastard didn't hit me too hard and I was able to have a tousle with him. He was after the test subject. I was able to knock him down for a spell and that was when I called you, Isabella. But as you heard, he didn't stay down and I cut our call short. I got thrown into some tables, effectively knocking me out, and he was able to make off with the subject. Not only did he take her, but look at the carnage he left in the wake. Do you know how hard this is going to be to clean up?"

"Does anyone else know yet," Lucian asked picking up a broken microscope. He inspected the cracked lenses before tossing the machine in a trash can.

"No, I was just waking up when you four arrived, hence the cursing. I don't want anyone finding out about what I have been working on down here until you four have had a chance to see it. That and I don't know how to break the news without losing my job."

"Do you know who could have possibly done this? I mean, if Bella can't even break out of this joint, who could possibly break in," Jacob asked in an awed voice.

I had been inspecting the carnage since we had walked into it and I didn't like what I was getting out of it. Our visitor was defiantly a vascilli but there was something else lingering under the surface that I couldn't put my finger on. I turned off all my other senses so I could focus on what smelled wrong. I didn't completely remember it, but it was slightly familiar. It was hot and acrid, and smelled like fresh arson. And right then it all came slamming back to me. That night four years ago in Laos had haunted me for months before I was able to shove the images from my mind. The screams echoed in my head so loud that it made my brain throb. "Oh fuck no," I breathed out.

"What is it Bella," Jacob asked frantically from above me. I didn't even realize that I had fallen to the floor. "Do you know what did this?"

I pulled myself up off the floor and shook my head to clear the screams. I turned my gaze to my best friend. "There is only one thing that could possibly even attempt to do this. It was a vascilli…but a vascilli that has a demon residing in its system."

"No fucking way," Lucian breathed from his spot next to Nikolina. They had never encountered this before. That night in Laos had been before Lucian had risen. He only knew of this in theory. And reality was always much worse than theory.

Jacob looked between Brennor and myself as he tried to catch the quickly diminishing scent on the air. "Jacob," I caught his attention, "Its Krane."

"Shit!" He let off a stream of profanities before he started kicking at the broken mess he was standing in.

By the time he had himself under control, Lucian and Nikolina looked about ready to explode in confused anticipation. He let out a deep breath of air and said, "Krane was the one Bella and I failed to take in Laos, and he is the only one we have failed at. I don't know when the demon took him or if he has always had it; either way, Krane is a sick son of a bitch who tied up defenseless children and torched the cottage he had stashed them in. He did it simply for the sick pleasure of the kill. He didn't even do it for the blood…he just wanted to hear them scream."

"The question is; who paid him enough to risk his pathetic little life to help someone besides himself?" I tossed the question out to the room not expecting to get an answer. But Brennor's voice surprised me.

"The only thing I can think of is it has something to do with the test subject." I turned my gaze on him and waited for him to continue. "I don't know who the subject is. All I know is that her name is Jane."

All four of our mouths dropped wide. Stunned doesn't even cover the half of it. "How the fuck did we catch Jane," Lucian started, "And why the hell didn't we kill her outright?" Nikolina finished.

Brennor looked horribly confused which is understandable as he was one of the few humans employed at the compound. Brennor was hired specifically for his background in physics and chemistry and he only knew the base information on what we were doing here. It didn't surprise me that he didn't know who she was. "Jane is the sick little twelve year old vampire bitch that is at the head of the Volturi guard. The Volturi are basically the royal family in the vampire world. They are Vascilli but we don't touch them because they are controlled in how they kill. Every once in awhile, they try to get me to join their ranks but that is the extent of the contact I have with them. Basically, they're just really powerful and annoying old codgers who are persistent and don't take no for an answer."

"So I take it that since we captured one of their guards they're going to be pissed," Brennor asked.

"Since they hired a demon possessed vascilli to get her back, I'd say extremely pissed," Jacob replied rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, then it is a good thing they didn't find this," Brennor said as he walked over to a steal cabinet on the far wall. He opened the heavy duty looking lock on the doors and pulled them open. I sidled my way to his side and looked at what he pulled out of the dark confines of the cabinet. "My friends, I believe this little beauty will be your new best friend."

Brennor held what looked exactly like the Glock resting snugly in the back of my pants. He may not know that much about the world he lives in, but I figured even Brennor would know that a gun wouldn't do jack to a vampire. Lucian voiced his confusion before any of the rest of us could. "Not to sound rude here Bren, but guns won't do a damn thing to a vampire!"

Brennor tossed him a sardonic glance before he said, "Regular guns, like the one resting in Bella's pants won't do anything to a vampire," I felt the pink tinge my cheeks at the fact that Brennor had been checking out my ass. "But this will certainly do some damage."

He dropped the magazine into his hand and held it up for us to see. Blue light emanated from where the bullets resided. "This is what I have been working on for the past two years. It is what I have been running my tests on. As you can see, these aren't your everyday average bullets. They are made of a fiberglass casing filled with concentrated UV light. Now before you say anything, I know that sunlight doesn't do anything to a vampire except make him sparkle like King Oberon. But the UV in these bullets is very highly concentrated. I've popped a few of these babies into the test subjects, and I'll tell you, the screams, I've never heard anything that loud."

He placed the gun in my hand and I felt the weight of it. It was slightly heavier than my Glock but nothing I couldn't handle. "Brennor, you are a brilliant man," I said as I tossed Jake my gun and stuffed the new one in its place. "How many magazines have you got for it?"

"Just the one, so use it wisely," He said as he locked the cabinet back up. He was about to turn and face us when there came a crackle from one of the tables across the lab.

"Dr. Steele, why is there a red Jeep parked at the back entrance of the labs? You know that area is restricted," the voice rang out through his walkie talkie.

Brennor rushed across the room and retrieved the walkie. "I guess it is time to inform the big wigs. You guys better scat," he said as he motioned us towards the airlock and quipped into the walkie talkie, "I don't know why there is a Jeep parked up there. I've been a little preoccupied with the break in we had down here some ten hours ago."

But before we could hear the outraged response, the airlock closed shut effectively trapping out everything from inside the lab. As soon as it opened, we hauled ass down the hallway to the service elevator we had come down on. It seemed to take less time to get back up to the surface than it had taken to go down.

Nikolina and Lucian made sure the coast was clear outside before we booked it to the car. I cranked the engine over and we made our way to the main road. The guard at the gate waved as we passed through.

I played over everything I had learned in the last hour on the drive back. I didn't know what we were going to do or what was going to happen. We had unknowingly abducted a member of the royal family, and they had paid a hefty sum to the most sinister being I had ever encountered to get her back. Krane wasn't the type to just sit back once his job was done. He was even more power hungry than the Volturi themselves. And they had needed him. This was bad. I couldn't say for sure how any of this was going to play out; but the one thing I could say for sure was: we were fucked! Royally fucked…literally.

This case was going to take us international. And if we were going to Italy, we were going to need some help infiltrating the castle. There was only one person who I knew that could help us. And I really didn't want to involve him.

* * *

**Ok Kiddos, hope you liked it...Like I said above, I will be done with this semester on the 6th of May. So here's hoping that I can crank out the chapters faster than the rate of FAIL that I have been sending your way. Review please and I'll show you a bit of what's on the horizon...Toodles...**


	8. The Wreckage

****

...(Hides from the pitchforks) I'm so sorry that it is super late. I know I said that once summer hit me, I could crank these out right qick for you all...but I never intended for my job to put me to work. I have had ZERO time to work on this. As it is, I am breaking my Numero Uno Ruleo and posting a chapter without having the next one finished. I am only doing this because I feel so bad for making you wait almost two months for an update. I am almost done with the next chapter, but with my track record...don't know when it will be out.

DISCLAIMER: I own none of our favorite faces...but I do own Lucian...and that makes me smile...

* * *

**Hunter's Map**-----Fionn Regan

_Who was that fox caught in that trap, laid with hunter's map_

**The Wreckage**-----Vanessa Carlton

_Wishing for broken glass on a highway, it could be so easy_

* * *

We were about thirty miles outside Pullman when my phone buzzed again. I glared at the screen and debated whether or not to let it continue ringing. I still hadn't worked everything out in my head yet, so going in unprepared could quite possibly be one of the stupidest things I could do. And apparently, I wasn't very smart. I stayed my groan and answered the line. "Hello, Edward. What can I do you for?"

"Where have you been," he all but shouted over the line. Clearly he was upset. "Do you realize that you are now almost a day late? Alice is losing her mind!"

I smirked even though he couldn't see me. "Alice is losing her mind, or _you're_ losing _your_ mind?"

He growled at me over the line causing another smirk to break across my face. "Fine you're right, but that is beside the point! Where have you been? I called you multiple times and you didn't answer. Are you alright?"

I would have snapped back at him in a scathing tone had he not sounded so concerned about me. "Don't worry, I am perfectly fine. There was an incident that we had to take care of. I'm sorry for not calling to let you all know, but we literally had to jump in the car and leave after I got the call. We are almost home; we'll be at the house in about ten minutes where I will explain everything. I'm sorry I caused you to worry Edward."

He breathed out a sigh of relief and I could just imagine that he was pinching the bridge of his nose. "That's okay; I'm just so glad you are alright. I don't know what I would do if anything had happened to you."

His words hit a nerve in me that hadn't been messed with in a long while and the effect was highly unsettling…but welcome at the same time. "Yeah, whatever," I replied brushing his concern aside. "We'll be at your house in ten minutes. Make sure Carlisle is there; I really need to speak with him."

I hung up on him before he had any chance at reply. I still didn't know how I was going to explain anything, but at least I would have my friends there to help me work it out.

* * *

**EmPov**

"Well, I just got a hold of Bella, finally," Edward said as he walked back into the living room. We had all been huddled around the coffee table and had spread papers out all over the floor. It was our sad attempt at roughing out blue prints of all the places that Bella could possibly be. My favorite was the sketch that Jasper had done of the Hollingberry Field house…namely the rock wall inside.

But the minute Edward came back into the room, Alice jumped up and sent him a barrage of questions, all of which none of us could comprehend. So Edward just pushed her out of his way and sat down on the floor next to Rosalie. He idly fingered some of our drawings as he continued speaking. "As I said, I just got a hold of her and she said that they will be here in ten minutes. And before you can ask any more incomprehensible questions Alice," He tossed her a pointed stare to which she bowed her head in shame, "all Bella told me was that there was an incident that they had to take care of; who knows what that means."

"But she's okay right?" I asked from across the table. I couldn't afford to loose my partner in crime again…not after I just got her back.

"As far as I know she is perfectly fine. But before I could ask her anything else she cut me off saying that when she gets here, she needs to speak with Carlisle."

He said no more on the subject before getting up from the floor and heading upstairs…presumably to find our father. Bella's relayed message bothered me. My siblings didn't seem to be worried at all now that they knew she was safe; but I knew more than they did. Something really bad must have happened to make her drop everything and run. And if it was anything like what I had a feeling it might be, then Bella and her friends were going to be tight lipped about it. They wouldn't tell any of us about what happened for safety issues. So why Bella needed to speak with Carlisle was lost to me.

But since she wasn't going to tell us squat, I would just need to get her away from her car. I could tell a lot of things by the grime on a car…most importantly, where said car has been. If I could narrow it down, I might be able to figure out what was gong on here.

As if right on cue, ten minutes after Edward had left to go find Carlisle, I heard Bella's jeep pull up the gravel driveway and I could hear the crunching of four sets of feet walk up our porch. Bella didn't even bother with the formality of ringing the doorbell; she just barged her way into the house. Lucian followed her in, but I noticed Jacob and a pretty girl- who I assumed to be Lucian's protector- hang back on the porch.

Alice jumped to her feet to go greet our friend, but Bella just brushed her aside as she passed by us in the living room. "Hey kiddos, Carlisle around?" She asked while her eyes darted back and forth around the room.

"Edward went upstairs to find him about ten minutes ago," I replied as I surveyed the harried look in her eyes.

"Thanks, see you later," She hurriedly said as she jumped for the stairs.

I jumped up after her and tailed behind Lucian as they hustled up the stairs. My siblings and I were causing quite the ruckus in their wake and since it was clear that we were not privy to the information that needed to be discussed with our father, the fact that neither of them turned around to shoo us away, was huge. I felt venom pool in my mouth with the anticipation of it all.

She reached Carlisle's office and threw the door open. Inside Edward was talking with our father and Bella didn't even take the time to register that he was there before she opened her mouth. "Edward, get out!" He looked like he was about to protest, but before he could even open his mouth, Bella and Lucian had him by the shirt collar and were pushing him out into the hallway and subsequently into us.

Edward looked bewildered as he stared back at the closed door. He turned around and looked at me. "What the hell was that?"

But I just pushed him out of the way and told him to shut up as I pressed my ear to the door. The rest of them scrambled for a part of the door as well.

I couldn't really hear much of what was being said behind the door; the three of them had muffled their voices so we couldn't eavesdrop. The entire conversation between my father and Bella and Lucian lasted for about a half hour and it all was a jumbled mess. But I was able to pick out a few choice words on Bella's part: something about somebody named Krane, a ruined laboratory, a member of the Volturi and something about a retrieval. What I pieced together from the muffled conversation wasn't good. From what I could tell, a member of the Volturi had destroyed the laboratory of a mercenary named Krane.

As I told my siblings my findings I felt the door open and we all lost our footings causing us to fall into a heap in the now open doorway. I looked up at Bella, Lucian and my father from the floor. Carlisle looked pissed, Lucian looked annoyed and Bella looked as if she would erupt in laughter at any moment. I put on my best smile to try and appease the former two, and it worked well enough. Carlisle still looked pissed but at least he told us to follow him as the three upright individuals clambered over the heap of us and made for the stairs.

They sat us down in the living room and the six of us- Esme had since returned home- all listened on baited breath as Bella and Lucian explained the entire story. It took another half hour to relay the story but I didn't care. My assumption was way off! And as it was, the situation was way worse than what I had imagined. Bella's mafia, or whatever the hell it was that she worked for, had kidnapped Jane and had run tests on her. Now, while I thought it was awesome that the little banshee finally reaped what she had sewn, the fact that the Volturi had sent someone after her was bad. But as far as any of us knew, Bella and the people she worked for were in the clear. This Krane fellow had yet to get back to Italy otherwise Bella would have found out by now.

I was just about to voice my opinion on the matter when Bella's Blackberry buzzed in her pocket. She fished it out…looked at the screen…and paled.

* * *

**Bpov**

Lucian made a bee-line for the kitchen after we left Carlisle's study. I watched him walk away and noticed he pulled his phone out of his back pocket. I could only hope he was calling our link in the security lab, Arcadia. She was the best hacker I knew- and I knew a lot of them- so I was hoping Lucian was calling to have her hack into the feed from Volterra. I needed to know what was going on over there and calling up the old codgers personally wouldn't fly; then I would have to explain how I knew "what's her face" had been kidnapped…or vampirenapped.

I diverted my attention back to the people sitting around me and launched into the story. By the time I was getting tired of explaining things to them, Lucian returned from the kitchen. I looked over at him, my face conveying my question. He flopped down across the room, next to Jasper and looked back at me. "I just got off the line with Arcadia. Yes, she hacked into the security system, no, the little one isn't back yet and yes they are more out of their minds than they were with her original disappearance."

"Did she say if they had any leads on who took her to begin with," Rosalie asked from her spot on the floor.

Lucian looked over at her and shook his head. "From what she got out of the recordings, I would have to say no. But, there is always the possibility that she missed something."

I slouched back into the couch and covered my face with my hands. This didn't sit well for me. If the Volturi found out that it was my people who kidnapped Jane in the first place, they would want my head. Or worse…I would have to join the ranks. Even if they did get the little terror back, I was still doomed. Not even the compound would be able to protect me if they sent Demetri after me, which would be the most logical thing they could do. And if that happened, I would have to run before he could catch my scent. This meant I had a good day's head start.

Edward noticed my defeated attitude and put his arm around my shoulders, trying to reassure me. It was comforting and I felt myself relaxing back into him. My apprehension was just about gone when I felt my phone buzz. I fished it out of my pocket and looked at the screen…and my face paled. I had seen the number pop up too many times to count over the years that I knew it by sight. I felt it buzz three times before I looked up from the screen. I knew my eyes must have been as big as saucers. "They know!"

I looked at the faces of my friends before picking up the line and holding the phone up to my ear. I tried to steady my voice as best as I could but it still sounded broken. "Hello?"

"Bella Swan," The woman on the other end didn't even give me the time to respond before she continued. "This is Ibis calling on behalf of the kings of Volterra. Your presence has been requested at Volterra Castle."

I felt my face cringe as the world came crumbling down around me. "Why," I asked.

"I am not pertinent to the details, but I was told to inform you that it is of the utmost importance that you be present as soon as possible. I have arranged your flight information and will be sending it along shortly. Have a wonderful afternoon Miss Swan." And the line went dead.

As soon as I hit the end button on my phone, I looked over at Carlisle. He had this look in his eyes that didn't help me in the comfort department. "Carlisle, it looks like we won't be needing your help after all. Lucian, we're flying to Italy."

He looked up at me from his spot on the floor and offered me a weary smile. "We'll get through this kid." He said it as an act of comfort but it did nothing to put me at ease. He may have said the words, but I knew that in his heart, Lucian knew it was hopeless.

Edward could feel my defeat. He gave me a squeeze, pressed his lips to my ear and said with conviction, "It will be okay sweetie; I won't let them take you."

I don't know how he did it, or how it was even possible that it happened, but with those six little words, Edward made me feel safer than I have ever felt in the last ten years. I turned my head and looked up into his eyes, and for the first time in so long, I started drowning. I felt that long lost, but familiar squeezing of my heart…and it felt right.

The others all piped in with the same and it broke me out of whatever trance I had fallen into. This new development would need to be explored.

With their words of encouragement, I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face. But I felt guilty all the same. I heard Carlisle speaking in hurried tones into his phone; probably making travel plans as well.

My phone buzzed again signaling that an e-mail had arrived. I clicked it open and motioned for Lucian to read it as well. A jet would be waiting for us at 9 a.m. at the Podunk, Pullman/Moscow airport. I showed Carlisle the email so he could arrange his plans accordingly and got up off the couch. I needed to go back to my building and make plans for my withdrawal. There was still time to get a portion of my tuition back and if I was going to be moving involuntarily to Italy, I would need all the money I could get.

I hugged my friends goodbye and promised that I would meet them at the airport at 8:30. Esme hugged me extra tight and whispered her assurances that things would work out into my ear. Just knowing that she believed I would be alright was going to be enough to get me through the night.

Jake, Nikolina, Lucian and I piled into the jeep and headed back to our building. We packed our belongings quickly and then returned to Nikolina's room to plan our strategy. Jake and Nik were determined to protect us and Lucian and I were determined to get them back to the states. If I did get forced into joining, Jake would be killed. I couldn't deal with that. And another thing that I couldn't handle was the fact that the Volturi only wanted me. Lucian and I were sworn to protect each other as much as we were sworn to protect the human race. That meant Lucian would fight to the death to keep me out of the Volturi ranks. And he would most likely die trying.

We stayed up all night making escape plans for the three of them and once that was done, we spent the rest of the night just being together, reveling in the friendship that was unbreakable.

But sleep was inevitable and I fell into it that night thinking about what had happened to me earlier while I was in Edward's arms. Could the tide be shifting? I had been so certain that that wasn't even a possibility anymore. But that's what it felt like. He had been so wonderful to me these last three weeks and I don't know how he did it. But when I looked into his eyes it felt like it did all those years ago. Had what I most feared actually happened? Would I care if it did happen?

There was only one answer; no. I didn't care that that it seemed as if I was falling back in love with him…in fact…it felt right. A tear escaped my eye as I realized that I was finally home.

Now all I had to do was figure out a way to keep him safe.

* * *

I woke up anything but refreshed the next morning. I had been so antsy before crashing that my sleep had been restless. Not to mention Jake had been snoring like a freight train…no wonder why I tossed and turned all night.

After rousing my comrades, we got dressed, hitched our belongings over our shoulders and headed out to my car. We got some breakfast on the way to the airport and were able to make it there with a half hour to spare.

As I opened my door, Edward appeared at my side and helped me down. He pulled me into a hug and I didn't shy away from it this time. "Restful night huh," he said running his fingers over the purple under my eyes.

I leaned into his touch and replied, "Not in the slightest."

We stood there together for a bit longer before I heard Lucian clear his throat behind us. I pulled out of Edward's grip in respect for my friend. We may not be together anymore, but Lucian takes awhile to get over stuff.

After checking in and receiving our boarding passes, we hauled our bags across the tarmac and up the stairs of the tiny puddle jumper. The flight to Seattle was short and uncomfortable in the cramped seats. If I was having problems I didn't want to know how Jake and Nik were faring as they were both well over six feet.

Our flight in Seattle got delayed for about two hours so I was able to get a quick snooze in the terminal. I woke up to Alice shaking my shoulder. After rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I grabbed my carryon bag of books and my iPod and walked over to the group of my vampire friends. "Here, let me take that," Edward said as I got to his side.

"Oh thanks, but you don't have to; it's really not heavy," I replied hitching the bag further onto my shoulder.

"You look dead on your feet Bella. Please, let me help you."

"Alright, you twisted my arm," I said making him laugh. He slipped the bag off and ran his hand softly down my arm. I shivered and apparently he noticed.

"You haven't done that in awhile."

"Things change," I replied and walked down the gangway to the plane beyond. I took my seat and instantly fell asleep.

My eyes opened two hours later and I felt myself leaning on something hard and cold. I couldn't stop the smile from spreading. _I remember this_.

"Its times like this when I wish I could sleep," Edward said from above me. I turned my head to look up at him and it was then that I had the idea.

* * *

**Epov**

She was asleep in her seat when I reached her. Oh how I missed this. It had been far too long since I got to watch her sleep. She always looked so peaceful and serene. I could only hope that she would start talking again.

About a half hour into the flight I noticed Bella getting restless- most likely due to the cramped condition of the plane. I gently took hold of her head and pulled her to lean on my shoulder. She instantly settled. No matter how much she needed her sleep, I really wish she were awake, that way I would have something to occupy my boredom. _I wonder what books she brought with her_.

I was able to get through one of her books in about an hour. It really didn't stave off the boredom since I had read it already. I was just about ready to get up and find one of my siblings to annoy when I felt Bella stir. I looked down at her and said softly, "Its times like this when I wish I could sleep."

She looked up at me and just stared for a bit. But then a small sparkle lit up her eyes. She sat up fast and smiled wide at me. "Do you want to?"

"Do I want to what," I asked, puzzled.

"Go to sleep," She replied, the sparkle growing larger.

"I would love to, but if you don't recall, I can't do that."

"I can make you."

I turned to face her and just stared in puzzled excitement. By the time I regained my faculties I asked, "You can really make me sleep?"

"Well, not completely sleep. It's really more like a deadened state of arousal. Basically, you'll be so relaxed that it will feel like you're sleeping."

"Do it please!"

She laughed at my enthusiasm. I waited as Bella brought her hands up and placed them on either side of my head. "Now close your eyes…and take a few deep breaths." I did as she said and felt myself relax. "Just keep breathing."

We sat there for a few moments before I felt Bella shift and bend her head toward mine. The pressure her hands were applying on my head increased slightly and it felt as if she was pulling the fluid out of my brain. My body went lax and my breathing slowed…and all I could comprehend was dark.

I was jolted out of my half sleep when the plane lurched to the ground. I slept the entire flight? It was wonderful, but I felt like a tool for leaving Bella on her own. But then I felt something that made me the happiest I have ever been. Bella was stirring out of sleep again, and yet again she was leaning against my chest. We were able to sleep together. This was the one thing I had always wanted all those years ago.

"How was your non-sleep?" She asked in a soft voice.

"The greatest ever," I replied brushing her bangs out of her eyes. She just smiled at me and buried her face back into me. She hadn't done that in years. Could it be a sign that things were changing? I sure hoped so.

We waited until all the other passengers had de-boarded before we got up and off the plane ourselves. Once we were in the open terminal we all regrouped. "So what's the plan Stanley?" Emmett asked.

Bella looked over at Lucian, Jacob and Nikolina before responding, "Baggage claim, rental car and then onto my death."

That got a chuckle out of the group. It was just like her to make a joke out of the awful situation. I pulled her to me, wrapped my arm around her shoulder and pressed my lips to her temple. I felt her turn her head into me and I couldn't stop my grin.

"Alright, why don't we get a move on. And Bella, don't worry; we don't know what you've been called here for," Carlisle said as he grabbed Esme's hand.

"Yeah, let's hope this is just another attempt at recruitment," She muttered before picking up her bag and grabbing my hand. I let her lead me on the way.

* * *

We drove the two hours from the airport to Volterra, and as soon as we pulled up to the gates of the city, a dark sense of foreboding settled over me. The sensation was only made worse due to the fact that I wasn't riding in the same car as she was. Carlisle had said that it might not be the best idea if we were to reach the city together, as it might raise suspicions. But if my family rolled in behind Bella and her cohorts, then it wouldn't be thought of as foul play. We were quote, just a family coming to visit an old friend…its not like we knew our other old friend would choose to be here at the same time, end quote.

Carlisle made a lot of sense but I still wished I could've ridden with Bella. It was hard to be away from her period, but with all the doom and gloom, the problem expanded ten fold.

I watched as her arm went through the open window and she handed the guard at the gate her identification. He took one quick look at it, before tossing it back to her and opening the gate. The instant the black Cadillac she was driving passed through the gate, it slammed shut. Carlisle pulled our rented SUV up to the guard house and rolled down his window. Upon seeing him, the guard stepped up to the window. "Name please," He asked in his thick Italian accent.

"Carlisle Cullen and family," my father replied smoothly.

The guard studied his face for a few beats and in that short span of silence, I was afraid we would be found out and turned away…and then Bella would be on her own…and that would drive me nuts. But the guard's brow softened when he asked, "Do you have an appointment?"

My father's face broke out into a smile as he politely informed the guard that we were old friends of Aro and his brothers and that since we were in the neighborhood; we thought we would pop by for a visit.

He guard studied my father some more, most likely trying to decide if he was lying or not. Apparently he must have believed Carlisle's story because he backed away from our car and the gate opened for us. Carlisle gave his thanks in the native tongue before pressing the car forward.

It was late at night and the city had virtually shut down. I had only been here once before- during my "rebellious years"- and it was quite different now than it had been. While before, the streets were packed with people, now it was almost as if the city had been emptied. But the soft lights shining through the windows of houses in town and on the hills behind the massive castle proved otherwise.

Our car cruised through the main square and I took note of the time on the clock tower. Very late indeed. Our car pulled up next to Bella's, and we found her and her friends lounging on the hood and roof. I cocked an eyebrow in her direction as if to ask why she was sitting on the roof of her car. She just sent a goofy face back to me with no response, before vaulting herself down to the ground.

"Took you long enough Carlisle; I figured the guard had sent you away," She said teasingly to my father. Emmett and I tried to bite back our laughs but we were only mildly successful.

He just gave her head a little pat on the head before looking down the alleyway towards the door to the castle. "I think Bella, you and your friends should enter first. Whoever is at reception will take a bit to get your escorts down to the lobby and by that time we will have entered as well," He posed our angle of attack so to speak. "Then by the time the escort arrives, whoever it is will just have to take both of us. I can't say it is fool proof, but it is the best chance we have."

Bella sent me a look that made my dead heart simultaneously melt and clench with fear. I gathered her plea for me to be careful and her fear for her life. I held her gaze for a few beats before she turned and followed her friends into the dark alleyway. The vise around my heart tightened as the sound of the door closing reverberated through the alley.

We waited a good five minutes before heading into the castle ourselves. Our appearance seemed to fluster the woman behind the desk. Clearly she had not been expecting to have to host an escort for two parties. I watched as she politely excused herself from Bella's company and made her way over to us. "I'm sorry, but we are not taking visitors at this hour," She said in a confused voice. I heard a muffled curse and turned to find Rosalie removing her spike heal from Emmett's foot. I refocused my attention on the woman standing in front of my father. "Did you have an appointment sir?"

Carlisle smiled and offered the woman his hand in greeting. "My apologies Miss, I wasn't aware the lords were not taking visitors. My name is Carlisle Cullen and this is my family. We have been vacationing for the past month and felt that before we headed for home; we needed to pay a visit to our old friends in Volterra. If it is the wrong time, we can come back in the morning."

I looked at my father in outrage. How could he just up and volunteer to leave Bella on her own. It was his idea to come along on this little mission to help in the first place. But before I could say anything, a door opened and who I could only assume as one of the lords walked out into the lobby.

He sauntered up to Bella's party and held out his arms. "Bella, darling, how wonderful to see you again." I watched as he enveloped her into his arms and had to bite back a growl.

She stiffened slightly but returned the greeting just the same. "Well, I can't say that it is a pleasure to be here Aro. You do realize that you pulled me away from school, during a critical time in the semester."

His eyes grew wide in surprise and sympathy, but from what was running through his mind, I knew he was anything but sorry. "May apologies dear one; if the situation could have been postponed no doubt I would have but I'm afraid our situation is dire."

He stepped back a few feet from her and his eyes landed on us across the room. "Goodness me! Carlisle Cullen; what are you doing here?"

"Aro, my friend, it has been too long," he replied shaking hands with the wizened vampire. But in his mind Carlisle was cringing. And it made me internally grin.

"And you have brought your family as well," Aro replied after letting go of my father's hand. He turned his attention back to Carlisle and continued, "My friend, while it is wonderful to see you again, it is really not the most opportune time. We are going through a bit of a crisis at the moment, and I am just about at my wits end. You are welcome to stay for a visit but I can't be positive of how good a host I will be," He turned to the woman who had since returned to her desk and said, "Marsillia, be a dear and escort the Cullen's to the chambers on the fourth floor. Carlisle, I will come see you just as soon as I can, but I have pressing matters with Ms. Swan that need to be taken care of." And with that, I watched as the vampire led my love and her friends out of the lobby and down a torch lit hallway.

Once they were out of sight, the woman behind the desk, Marsillia, came around and motioned us to follow her. We followed up a rounding staircase and came out into a vast corridor. "The rooms on the left are open for you all. They are all completely furnished and stocked with anything you could possibly need, but if something happens to be missing, do not hesitate to call down to reception and I or Dominic will gather anything you require. Have a pleasant rest of the night." And with that she turned on her heal and headed back for the stairwell we had just climbed.

My family broke off into pairs and each took a room. I found myself in the farthest down the hall. After dropping my bag onto the floor I stood in front of the window and just looked out into the night sky. The moon was partially hidden by a layer of clouds and the tree branches of the forest outside my window.

And I just stood there for I don't even know how long. I just couldn't bring myself to try and relax…not with Bella in possible danger and me having no way to help her. I didn't foresee Aro harming her yet, if he was going to at all, but I still wouldn't be able to breathe easy until I saw her safe again. So I would wait for her, and in my mind, pray for her safety to whichever Gods would listen to my damned soul.

* * *

**Bpov**

We had been walking down a long hallway for quite sometime now. My companions stayed a few paces behind me quietly conversing with one another. But I couldn't focus on that…couldn't focus on the beautiful and intricate web of designs etched into the mahogany paneling that lined the walls…couldn't even focus on the fact this may very well be the last hour of my life. All I could focus on was Edward and hope that he didn't do anything stupid and rash in the hopes of trying to save me. Which in reality would actually probably get me killed faster.

I had told Carlisle and the rest that I had no real plan to go on other than trying to make it out of this meeting alive. That way I could come back to them and formulate a plan of attack. As I followed behind the wizened old vampire, many different scenarios were running rampant through my mind. Most involved either me dieing right now, dieing at the hands of Krane, or being forced into the Volturi's version of white slavery.

The corridor made several turns as we continued our journey. And with each turn, the air got colder and colder. We must have been very far underground based on how cold it was and how the pressure was building behind my ears. And just when the chill in the air became too much for me, Aro stopped us in front of a set of heavy wooden doors. He grasped the brass handles and hurled the doors open.

Inside was incredible and I heard Nik try to stifle a gasp behind me. The floors were inlaid with polished tiles creating an intricate mosaic of geometric shapes. It gave off a very Islamic feel and was mesmerizing. But I couldn't focus on how beautiful it was because my eyes were drawn to the other two wizened vampires sitting in high backed chairs across the hall.

We followed Aro over to the other two and he sat down in the vacant middle chair. And when he looked back up at us, I couldn't read anything from his face. But I instantly knew that this wouldn't go well.

"You are probably wondering why you have been called to our hall, am I correct?" He asked after settling himself in the chair.

"You would be correct in that assumption, yes," Jacob replied for the rest of us.

I saw the vampire on the right flick his eyes in mine and Jacob's direction. This one had to be Marcus. I had heard of his ability to read the relationships between people, and I gathered he was doing that now. I was just glad that he wasn't the one who could bend other's loyalties. I prayed we wouldn't run into that vampire anytime soon.

"I'll cut to the chase. About three months ago, one of our numbers went missing. She was sent out on detail to the northernmost corner of Canada and was to report back in three days after her arrival. No report came back." Aro looked to be cringing and I understood why. Jane was the protector in the guard, but she was Aro's personal guard as well. "We sent Demetri out immediately but he was unsuccessful. We were surprised because he is the best at what he does. After a month of no word, action had to be taken. I called in the only one to surpass Demetri in tracking abilities and sent him with the specific instructions to bring her home. He wouldn't be paid until she was back in the city," Aro hung his head in what appeared to be shame. "I know now that I made the wrong decision in asking for his help, because as you can see, my Jane has yet to return."

We all knew this already. I was just wondering where Aro was going with all of this. Lucian beat me to it however. "I mean no offense or rudeness your Lordship, but what does this have to do with us?"

Marcus' head snapped up at the sound of Lucian's voice. His eyes were hard when he replied, "You are here to bring her back. This involves you because our mercenary found Jane in your compound. Your people were the ones who took her in the first place!"

I shut my eyes and tried to breathe. I was afraid this would happen. They knew we had taken her and even though it wasn't me personally, the Volturi would want me in restitution. But why hadn't they killed me yet?

"Please calm yourself Marcus," Aro placed his hand on his brother's shoulder before returning his gaze to us. "You are here, because you Isabella must bring her back to us. You are the only one who is even remotely capable of finding Krane."

"Why should I help you? Why should I help the one person who tortures me every time I refuse to join your ranks?" I asked trying to keep the annoyance and hatred out of my voice.

"We need your help because Krane has made contact with us. He is rallying to take over Volterra. If he succeeds the world will fall. Not just our world, but the human world as well. Humans will become slaves. I know we are not the best authority to listen to given our diet, but we are not monsters. We do not wish for the human world to fall to that."

I figured that Krane would try something like this. If he had Jane, he had a way into Volterra, and he had the power to turn her gift onto her masters. And once he was done taking the thrown, he would dispose of the rest of us. The vegetarians would be first. People like my friends would be slaughtered and their blood would paint the countryside. Then it would be the unruly nomads who refused to join him. They would be killed simply because they were a threat to his next meal.

I breathed deeply before looking up at them. "You know my history with him. Krane has haunted me for the last four years. I almost died at his hands." My eyes started watering at the memory of that night and I felt Jake wrap his arm around my shoulders.

"We know that this is hard for you, Isabella. But we have no other options. You and young Lucian here are the world's last hope."

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. I looked at each of my friends before turning my gaze back to the three vampires. "If I do this, you will leave me alone forever. You will not contact me or anyone of my family. I will be dead in your eyes. You will never contact me again."

I could tell that my ultimatum wasn't sitting well…but they also really wanted her back. Aro and his brothers conversed for a bit to themselves before turning to face us. Aro was the one to speak…big surprise there. "It has been a trying day for the lot of us. I do not expect a decision from you right now. Talk it over with your comrades and let us know in the morning. But I will state it again; you are the world's last hope Isabella." He snapped his fingers and a door off to the side of their thrones opened and another vampire walked into the room. "Felix will take you to your chambers. Have a pleasant evening and we will reconvene tomorrow around mid day."

I could tell that my ultimatum had fallen on deaf ears. I knew they were going to be stongy bastards about it. But I wouldn't give up without a fight. If they wanted me to do this, then there was going to have to be some kind of incentive for me…and they knew my price. I would be putting my life on the line for them. Was it really too much to ask for my freedom from an imprisonment that I knew was coming?

* * *

**Again, super late and super sorry for it. Review and see what's next...TOODLES...**


	9. Machinehead

**Here you go...I won't give any excuses because frankly...I don't have any. The song for this chapter is a warmup for what is coming next. So Enjoy! ONWARD...**

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of our favorite faces...but I do own Lucian...and that makes me smile**

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* * *

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**Hunter's Map**-----Fionn Regan

_Who was that fox caught in that trap, laid with hunter's map_

**Machinehead**-----Bush

_Blood is like wine, unconscious all the time_

* * *

**Epov**

I was getting anxious when another hour passed and Bella still hadn't returned. It bothered me even more when her friends all entered their respective rooms and she had not. I didn't like the waiting, the not knowing…even though it would be good for me to learn how to deal with it. If I planned to make a life with her- which I hoped to do- I would need to learn how to cope, considering her role in life.

I had just about pulled out my hair when I heard her laugh come down the hall. But accompanying her laugh was a male voice that I didn't care for. Felix had visited our home before he joined the Volturi. After his change he nomaded around for a while and ended up staying with my family in Switzerland. He instantly tried to get into Rosalie's pants and would not let up on his pursuit. Both Emmett and I got into fights with him over it and he only got the hint when Rosalie tore off his leg. He left us not two hours later.

I have never disliked someone as much as Felix and it angered me that he was around Bella. I heard the door next to mine open and Felix said something that I didn't catch. But Bella laughed again and her reply got me anxious. "I'll take you up on that offer. How does around four o'clock tomorrow sound?"

"I'll make sure I'm free," he replied in a voice that made my stomach turn.

"I'll see you then." And then her door closed. I heard her rummage around in her room for a bit before I heard the shower start up. I sat myself down on the couch and resumed my gaze on the early morning sky. But not too long after, I heard the door adjoining our rooms open and Bella walked in, in all her freshly showered glory. I looked at her face and she looked grim. I took her in my arms and waited for her to begin.

I was silent when her tale came to an end and was quiet for a few moments after. But when I felt her collapse into me, I knew we would have to continue the conversation at a later time. I picked her up and carried her over to my bed and laid her under the covers. As I moved to pull away, her grip on my shirt tightened. I took that to mean that she didn't want me to leave so I crawled under the covers and pulled her flush with my chest.

And we laid there for six hours.

I felt her stir and sit up. She turned to face me, smiled, and jumped head first into the situation at hand. "Sorry I passed out on you last night. How do you feel about all of this?"

I couldn't respond right away because I didn't know how to articulate just how I felt about it. But when she bit down on her lip, the words poured out of me. "I can't say that I am ok with it. I don't want you to do it but I can't tell you what to do. All I can say is that I will do whatever I can to help you succeed."

Her eyes widened and then softened immediately after. "Wow, you sure have grown up in the last ten years."

"I can't say much for the growing up, but I do know that you cannot stand it when others make decisions for you…and I have no right making this one."

"Thank you, on both accounts. I'll need all the help I can get."

"Ok then, lets plan," I said flopping back down to lay on the bed. "What do we know?"

She lay back down next to me and gave me a slight smile. "Not too much but I will learn more after my meeting later today."

* * *

"We didn't learn much but what we do know really helps," Bella said after sitting down on the counter top next to Emmett. We had all gathered in Carlisle and Esme's room two hours ago while we waited for Bella and her cohorts to return with more information on the task at hand.

"Well lets hear it and plan accordingly," Carlisle replied, ever the figure of clam even though I knew he was fretting about it just as much as the rest of us.

"Like Bella said, it's not much," Lucian said from his spot on the couch. "So the story goes, our camp kidnapped Jane and ran experiments on her. Her bosses weren't too happy when Bella told them that."

"Wait, why did you tell them in the first place? That could have gone horribly wrong," Alice asked with wide eyes. It didn't make sense to me either.

"It was the only piece of the puzzle that didn't add up. They knew she had gone on an assignment and knew she had been kidnapped. Apparently when Krane sent out the ransom, he mentioned where he found her. They asked and I told them. You can't keep secrets like that from them. Had they found out later that we had nabbed her first, all my haggling would be for nothing and they would have been able to do as they pleased with me. Yes they are pissed, but they still need us to get her back. I'm hoping I can run once we finish and still stay in the clear," Bella replied solemnly. She never told me she had bargained with the Volturi leaders about this. What had she given up…what had they given up? I hoped it wouldn't come down to her having to run once this was all over…but if she did, I would run with her just to know she was safe.

"Anyway, moving right along, Krane has amassed a shocking amount of support for this coup he is throwing," Lucian continued.

"But his support won't be a problem once we take him down," Jacob spoke up causing everyone's head except Bella's to swivel in his direction. Once he took note of our confused expressions, Jacob continued his explanation, "Krane's ability to be manipulative only comes from the demon residing in him. All his powers stem from it…"

"That's not entirely correct Jake," Bella interrupted. He gave her an exasperated glare before she continued. "All of Krane's powers are his own. The demon just makes them about 80 times stronger. A demon wouldn't choose a weak host. It knew what it was doing when it invaded him."

"But the principle of it still works. Once the bond between the demon and host is broken, his support will be lost," Jacob finished, sidestepping Bella's interruption.

"That makes a lot of sense. It sounds a lot like what Natalya can do," Rosalie said. She and Emmett had met the stunning Russian vampire while on one of their countless honeymoons about twenty years ago. "That shouldn't be too big of a problem."

Bella let out a laugh that quickly turned into sarcastic hysterics. "Oh believe me, it will be a lot harder than that. The only way to take the demon out is to either severely weaken or kill the host. I really think the latter is what we will have to do to this one. Killing a vampire is hard enough. Krane is strong on his own, and this demon is only adding to that strength. This isn't going to be your run of the mill vamp assassination."

We all sat and mulled that over a bit before Lucian continued on with what they found out. "Now Krane may be super strong and powerful, I don't know, I've never met the guy, but he doesn't seem to be the sharpest tool in the box. In his ransom call, he informed the Volturi that he was planning an attack for sometime next month. But what he didn't figure in was Caius' insanely good hearing." Caius had just about the best ears in vamp kind. Carlisle had told me once that Caius had overheard a conversation that Carlisle had had with Marcus once. It came as a shock to my father because Caius had been two floors down and at the other end of the hallway at the time. "So as Aro spoke to Krane, Caius was listening in on the background to see if anything stood out. Apparently a train rolled passed Krane's position during the conversation."

"But that doesn't help. There are thousands of train tracks in Europe," Alice complained.

"But Krane stays in a comfort zone," Bella replied from the counter. "He was born in Poland, at about the same time as you Edward. He fought in WWII but was turned right before the war ended. I know all this from my last encounter with him. He fiercely loved his country and had vowed to see it through the war. To this day he still lives in his childhood home. Yes he moves around like all other vampires do, but he always returns to that house. He wouldn't try anything like this from outside his comfort zone."

"Well that certainly narrows things down a bit," I spoke for the first time since we started our little pow wow. "Where in Poland does he live?"

"The northeast corner," Jacob said shifting from one foot to the other. He was agitated and I noticed that when Nikolina rubbed his back, his shoulders relaxed. "There are three places he could be, and he has houses in each and each has a railroad near by."

"So we're looking at three locations," Jasper said as his eyes landed on Bella across the room. "I take it you know the locations of the houses."

"Yep," Bella replied dropping her head onto Emmett's shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her in comfort. "Since we don't know when he is going to strike here, we need to take him out before he goes on the move. I am almost positive he will be stashing Jane in his childhood home. It is the smallest and the easiest to guard." She looked at all of us in turn. "I really don't want you all to help in the fight but I know if I tell you no, you all will just laugh in my face. So you need to be prepared. Not just in your fighting abilities. You need to be mentally prepared for what you are going to see. Krane is sick and likes torture. I don't know what he keeps, but he always keeps something from his victims. You need to be strong enough to handle seeing the bodies of helpless children, none of whom will have died from being drained."

My sisters and mother cringed but stayed their resolve. Apparently there was a lot we still needed to know. We broke apart after that. It was decided that we would strike in two weeks. We would have two weeks to prepare for what was possibly going to be the hardest fight of our lives. Was I ready to possibly lose people I loved…no. Was I ready to help murder someone I had never met before…no. Was I ready to help save the world from a vicious tyrant…hell no! But was I going to do it…there were no questions.

**

* * *

**

**Bpov**

I looked at my watch to note how much time I had before I had to meet Felix for sparring practice. We would be taking a few of the guard along with us as we ventured into this insanity. I still can't believe that I agreed to go after Krane. I must be out of my mind.

I had been alone in my room for the last hour. After our meeting with the Cullen's, Lucian, Nik, Jake and I all ventured to our own rooms to recharge. I knew they would be resting to get themselves ready for their own training, but since I was the strongest out of the four of us, I didn't have the luxury of taking a quick nap.

I had been pretty subdued when I left Carlisle's room, and Edward noticed. He asked me about it but I brushed him off saying that I needed to be alone. Even now, I can feel him sitting next to his side of the door that connects our rooms, just waiting for an opportunity to come over to my side. It's quite irritating having him hover like this, but I know he means well…its just right now, with everything that I have on my plate, his protectiveness- while cute- is suffocating me.

My watch read 3:53. This is just what the doctor ordered. I was supposed to meet Felix at four in one of the rooms on the floor below. I got to my feet and headed out the door.

Felix met me outside the room. "Isabella, are you ready to spar?" Felix asked as I made my way over to him.

"Like you wouldn't believe," I replied. He opened the door and ushered me in first and then closed the door behind him.

As soon as the door clanged shut, I felt a massive weight push me down to the padded floor. "You're going to have to be faster and more alert than that if you want to win this thing Izzy," Felix mocked in a sing song tone.

I flipped over onto my back and kicked my feet into the air, propelling myself to a standing position. "Fist of all, don't call me Izzy; you don't know me well enough for that. Second, you suck, and thirdly, that voice makes you sound super gay."

His eyes narrowed at me after I shot off my insult. He didn't say anything in reply; he just crouched down into his fighting stance. I mirrored his actions by popping into my stance, all the while glaring right back at him.

I watched as he shifted his weight slightly from one foot to the other. His posture never wavered. And when he jumped at me, I actually had to work to get out of the way. I craned my neck around to look at him when I stopped moving. He was good. He moved at speeds I had never seen before. Plus, he was huge…easily twice the size of Emmett. I was really happy that he was on my side for this battle…at this rate, sparring with him was going to be a challenge. I don't want to know how he would be as a real adversary.

We continued the dance of him jumping at me and me evading for a good half hour. But I was soon able to figure out his attack pattern. I said he was good; normally it take me two attacks to figure out the pattern. Felix attacked me a good 13 times before I figured it out.

He always did a series of movements with his feet right before he jumped. It was sort of a shuffle-like grapevine move either to the left or right just before the jump. And it was such a fast move that it was no wonder I didn't see the opening sooner. Felix always dropped his hands to counterbalance the quick steps and that left him open for a shot to the chest. And depending on which direction he moved, the opening would have a slightly wider window. But the direction was irrelevant. I knew what would bring him down now. Too bad I didn't figure it out sooner…could've saved me all these bruises.

He liked to circle too. Felix normally made one to two loops around before his shuffle step and attack. I narrowly missed his last jump and by some unforeseen miracle, managed to trip him up on his landing, causing him to loose his balance and stumble a bit. He sent a glare and hiss in my direction. "So you were finally able to get me. You are going to have to try harder than that little girl."

He started to circle me then. One…two…I waited for the shuffle with my eyes trained on his hands, just waiting for him to open up my window. His left foot quickly crossed in front of his right and I grinned as his hands dropped to steady himself. And then I struck. He was close enough to me this time that all I had to do was throw my leg straight out in front of me. My foot connected with his chest and he flew back into the wall with a thud.

When he didn't get up after a few beats, I got a bit worried. Did I knock him out? I hurried over to him and crouched down at his side. I shook his shoulder in an attempt to rouse him. "Felix; are you…"

But I wasn't able to finish my question as I found my back to the mat. Felix was straddling me and had my hands pinned above my head. He looked down at me with a contemptuous smirk. "Well, well, isn't this a wonderful position, you look delicious under me."

I would have spit at him for his disgusting remark but as it was, I was pissed that I fell for his plan. "That was a dirty trick!"

He just smiled back at me and lowered his face down to mine. "That is why you must…" but Felix was unable to finish his thought before he was ripped off of me and hurled across the room. I was too shocked to notice who it was at first. But once I saw his familiar head of hair, I rolled my eyes and growled in irritation.

* * *

**Epov**

She had been acting strange all through out the meeting earlier…but that was to be expected. Bella had a lot on her plate right now so if she had acted perfectly calm, I might have been more worried about her than I am now.

I tried asking her what was wrong but she just brushed me off and headed for her room. I'll admit, the way she blew me off was cold. But if she needed to be alone to regroup, then who was I to tell her no. She would tell me what was wrong soon enough. I just had to be patient.

So that was why I found myself sitting on the floor next to the door that conjoined our rooms. I wanted to be ready to comfort her again when she asked me to. Also, I still wanted to keep an eye on her incase their predictions about when Krane would strike were wrong. Being by the door was the closest I could be to her…so I would stay until she called for me.

And I have to admit, some of the things I heard coming from her room were quite funny. Most of the time, she was brooding in silence. But about fifteen minutes ago, I heard a string of expletives shoot from her mouth and the distinct sound of breaking glass. Then she let out a few more curse words before she fell silent once more. I wonder what she broke that time.

I continued at my post just biding my time…waiting for her to come out. But as I sat there a fleeting thought hit me. I hadn't heard her breathing for a while. She couldn't be in the bathroom because the shower wasn't on. This meant one of two things. Either Bella was in trouble, or she had somehow managed to sneak out of her room without me noticing.

I shot to my feet and wrenched open the door, only to come face to face with an empty room. Apparently I wasn't paying as close attention to her as I thought. Just to cover all the bases, I poked my head into the bathroom to see if she was there. Nope. I pointed my feet towards the hallway.

I prowled the halls in my search for her. I checked every room on our side of the corridor before heading over to her companions' side. I checked with Nikolina first. She took a little bit to open the door and I noticed her droopy eyes. I felt bad for waking her. She said that she had no idea where Bella was and that her room was the best bet. I thanked her and headed to the next room. Jacob was no help either. He didn't know where she was and then rebuked me for waking him up, right before he slammed the door in my face. Apparently, Little Boy Black still had some beef with me.

Lucian didn't answer the door. Either he was out as well, or he didn't want to open up. My vote was for the latter. So I continued my search alone.

I had combed just about every inch of the castle save the lower chambers. She didn't have another meeting with the kings so I knew she wouldn't be down there.

Well, that was a waste of an hour. I headed back upstairs to go bother Emmett and Rose. That would get my spirits back up. I had just reached the floor below ours when something caught my attention at the far end of the hall. It sounded like a fight was going on down there. It was none of my business so I kept on moving towards the stairs to take me one more floor up. That was until I heard her voice let out a groan of pain. But what sent me into action were the words that came out of her opponent's mouth. "Well, well, isn't this a wonderful position, you look delicious under me."

I felt my body fly down the hall and I wrenched open the door. What I found darkened my face and made my venom rage. Felix was on top of her and Bella was struggling. "That was a dirty trick," She spat at him.

He just smirked and leaned in towards her. "That is why you must…" But I didn't get to hear the rest of his thought before I hurled myself at him. He flew off of her and crashed into the opposite wall with a thud.

I was breathing through my rage trying so hard to get the red to fade out that I almost missed her growl of distaste. "What the hell was that Edward," Bella spit out as she jumped to her feet. I shot my eyes to her, confused by the irritation I heard in her voice. I stared dumbfounded at her for a few beats before she continued. "Way to be a stick in the mud!"

And what she did next boggled my mind even more. Bella walked over to Felix who was now brushing plaster dust off his shoulders. She reached her hand down and helped him up. "I'm sorry; did I miss something?" I asked in complete bafflement.

"We were sparring here and you knocked us out of synch Edward! Now we're going to have to start all over," Bella huffed in irritation.

How could she be sticking up for him right now?! "I may be rusty on my fighting terms but that did not look like sparring to me. I just saved you from getting raped Bella. A little thanks would be nice here!"

She just started laughing. Anger was starting to creep up on my confusion and her continued laughter was only making it worse. I was full on fuming when Felix decided to open his mouth. _Wrong time there buddy!_ "If you had just stopped to listen before going all nutso on me, you would have known exactly what we were up to in here." I glowered at him.

"I was going to say 'that is why you must never let your guard down. If you wanted to know if I was out cold, you should've kicked me.' It would have saved us all this trouble," he said waving his arm in my direction, "And you wouldn't have ended up on your back."

I sat there for a second before letting out a laugh. "Well, don't I feel like a retard."

Bella smiled at me and said, "Don't be like that Edward. It was a valid conclusion based on what you saw. Felix and I have started training," She said as she walked over to me and wrapped me in a tight hug. "You should do the same. I'm sorry you were worried."

"I'm just happy you are okay. I guess with my history with him I jumped to the worst possible conclusion," I hugged her back and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. I looked up and met Felix's eyes with a crafty grin. "If he tries anything untoward, his left leg is weak." The smirk on his face instantly melted into a glower. "I'll tell Rosalie that you said hello." And with that, I left Bella to it. I laughed at the look of confusion on her face as I closed the door behind me.

I climbed the stairs to my floor and headed for my room. Bella was right. I should start training soon. Why not now? I bypassed my room and headed for the last door on the left. He had nailed me with a sneak attack last year and I was still waiting to repay him. Now was anytime as ever. I opened the door to his room silently and called out to him in a venomous tune, "Oh Jasper…"

* * *

**Bpov**

It had been three weeks since our stay in Volterra had begun. Three weeks was a long time when it came to drafty corridors and bed chambers. It was a long time when having to deal with the new found sly attempts at seducing me into joining their ranks. And three weeks was a very long time when it came to copious amounts of human blood being wafted in front of my nose. It had now been a month and a half since Lucian's and my last trip to the blood bank and it was a rather lack luster trip at that. Since arriving at the castle, none of us have been allowed to leave the grounds for various reasons that really don't make much sense. It was no big deal for the Cullen's, as there were plentiful choices for them roaming around the grounds. But for people like me, the human blood that I required was impossible to come by.

When the Volturi learned of mine and Lucian's "rather odd" eating habits, Aro basically laughed in our faces. "There is no point in leaving when in just two days, you will have more than enough of a selection of blood ripe for the picking here." And there was no way for either of us to ask one of the unwitting victims to possibly donate a pint of their blood to the two little Durang's over in the corner.

I was so hungry that I had taken to sending Jake and Nik- the only two members of our party allowed to leave- out to the grocery store in town, and had since been gorging myself on every high caloric food they brought back for Lucian and I…peanut butter, copious amounts of pork, and more carbohydrates than I consumed in my 21 years of human life combined. I had gained seven pounds…and was still so hungry.

I was sitting on the window seat in my room with my laptop on my knees, currently Googling every Red Cross distribution center in the continental U.S. trying to find out how I could get them to send six pints of O- blood to the little town of Volterra, Italy, care marked to Bella Swan. Do you know how easy it is to make that happen? Not easy at all!

I had just Googled a new search when there was a knock on my door. Whoever it was had better not be Felix coming to spar some more. I needed to get some blood in me before I would even think of going back into the ring with him. The last time we both left with something new. Felix left with a new technique to incapacitate his opponent…and I left with a dislocated shoulder.

I put my computer aside and got up to answer the door. Much to my delight it was Jacob; back from his latest excursion into town, and he was holding a brown paper bag. "Ooh goody, you're back from the store! What munchies did you bring me," I asked as he made his way over to the table and set down the paper bag.

"Oh I know you will love it. Go take a look," he replied as he sat down next to my computer, which from the looks of it had returned my search.

I walked over to the table and picked up the paper bag only to realize that it was much heavier than the last few bags had been. "Jeez Jake, did you clean out the place or what?"

"Or what," He smirked at me before putting my computer on his lap.

I unfolded the top of the bag and looked inside…and my heart spluttered. I had never been happier because inside the brown paper bag was six pints of blood…three for me, and three for Lucian. I looked up at him with gigantic eyes and the biggest smile on my face. "How did you get this?"

I pulled one of the blood bags out and unfurled the tube as he was giving me his explanation. "Believe me, it was no walk in the park. The last time Nik and I went grocery shopping for you and Lucian, we found a small blood donation station on one of the back streets. So today I went back and pretended like I was going to donate some blood. It was really difficult but I managed to slip into the employee locker room, steal one of their uniforms and ID badge and break my way into the on site storage unit. I was only able to pilfer six pints before the bag looked ready to burst," He said looking at the computer screen. "What the…you Googled "The Black Market"?" He asked incredulously.

I looked up at him from my half empty blood bag with the tube still in my mouth. "I had to find some blood somewhere," I replied not as indignantly as I would have liked due to the blood tube sticking out of my mouth.

He put my computer aside and strode over to me. He gave my forehead a quick kiss before taking the three remaining blood bags into his hands. "You never cease to put a smile on my face kid…I love ya," He said as he reached the door. "Make sure to finish those bags quickly before they get warm. I know how much you hate warm blood that isn't fresh."

"You don't have to worry about that," I said without looking at him. My eyes were too busy being trained on the second blood bag tube that I was currently unrolling.

* * *

The hour at hand was getting close. I could feel it. But I also knew that Krane would give us some kind of clue as to when we were supposed to strike. He may be a really powerful demon possessed vampire…but the man isn't that sharp.

Edward and Alice had been called into a meeting with the three Lords, so I found myself with nothing to do. Emmett was otherwise engaged with his wife, and my friends were off somewhere doing God only knows what. So I found myself prowling the halls in search of the ever infamous Volturi library. I had heard that it housed over five million books and documents. My mouth watered at the prospect of all that history.

But I never made it to the library that day. I was prowling the lower levels of the castle when my phone rang in my pocket. I answered only to find no one on the other end just as a small hand wrapped around my wrist and pulled me down the hall.

"Shit Alice," I exclaimed, my heart beating quickly at her abrupt entrance. "Don't sneak up on a Bella like that."

She laughed and continued to drag me up the stairs towards our rooms. "Sorry Bella, but it was pointless to talk to you on the phone when you were right in front of me. Anyway, we got the notice during our meeting. Well actually, _I_ got the notice," she said taping her left temple. "I sent Edward off to gather the troops and they are meeting us in Carlisle's room. Oh and don't worry, I kept the vision quiet. They don't know anything about it." We skidded to a stop in front of Carlisle's room and before Alice opened the door she turned to face me. "I just want to say that I understand now just how annoying those three old duffers are. Edward's and my whole meeting was a seduction process for us to join up. How have you been able to deal with it these last six years?"

"With a firm resolve to keep out of captivity…and a whole lot of alcohol," I replied as I pushed open the door. We walked into the room and I found everyone assembled on the various pieces of furniture. Emmett and Rose looked disgruntled at having been interrupted, and my three friends looked just as eager as I felt. Jake had this evil glint in his eyes, and I knew he was more than ampped up to off this sucker. He hated Krane almost as much as I did. "Alright Alice, when is kickoff?"

"During our meeting this evening, I had a vision of the first attack. I don't know where or when it will happen, all I know is that it was really dark and three teenaged kids get tortured."

"It's good to know that he hasn't changed his calling card over the years," Jacob grunted from the floor.

"Okay, let's think about this here," Carlisle said calmly. "We know of three places where he could be and we know that it happens when it is very dark. So it is safe to assume that it won't take place within the next six hours. I think that is more than ample time to get stationed at the three locations."

"We just need to decide who goes where," Lucian spoke up. "Did anyone tell all of this to Felix and Demetri?"

"I went to Demetri's chambers before wrangling up all of you," Edward said looking over at me. "They already took off arguing amongst themselves about who will go to what location."

"Alright, we need to split this thing up logically here. Since Jake and I know how this guy fights we are not grouping together. I want Jake, Alice, Carlisle and Rosalie to go to sight one. Edward, Esme, Nikolina and Emmett go to sight two and Lucian, Jasper and I will go to sight three.

"Alright, we need to be ready to roll out in an hour. Pack what will be useful. A change of clothes and stuff to fight with. He's going to have humans fighting with him too. Guns are preferable but you know knives work too." And with that I scurried down the hall to my room to pack what I needed. I assumed everyone else was doing the same.

I had just secured the buckle on my boots when the door that joined my room to Edward's opened. He walked through the door but stopped short when his eyes fell on me.

He sat there in what looked like a daze before shaking himself out of it. He walked over and grabbed my hand. "The color black never looked so gorgeous," He said, and my cheeks colored at the compliment.

But just as quickly as it came, the light in his eyes vanished and was replaced with an irritated desperation. "I need to be in your group Bella." I raised my eyebrow at him in question as I zipped my duffel closed. "I wont be able to fight properly know that you are in potential danger and I'm not there to keep you safe."

He looked so sad and broken that I couldn't give him the lie that I was supposed to give him. I just didn't have it in me. I walked over and put both my hands on either side of his face and looked into his eyes. "I need you to be in a different group than I am," he made to protest but what I said next silenced him. "I won't be able to fight at all if you are with me because all I would be able to do is try to keep you safe. I wouldn't be able to do what I have to do because I would be too worried about you."

"You have no reason to worry about me Bella. I am more than capable to handle it."

"And you don't need to worry about me. I've fought this guy before, albeit ending badly, but I have become so much stronger in the last four years. I know I can beat him now Edward."

He still looked like he wanted to protest. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I don't want to get hurt either," I said making him chuckle. "Listen, if it will make you feel better, I'll spar with you to show you just what I am capable of."

"I think I can do that," he replied taking my hand and leading me into the hall and to a room a few doors down.

We quickly cleared the furniture from the center of the room and we each took a side of the open space. "Don't hold back on me Edward," I said crouching down into my fighting stance.

"Don't worry love; I want to see what you can do. Playing it easy doesn't really help," he replied crouching down himself.

He circled me a few times before springing towards me at lightening speed. _Man he is fast_. I was just barely able to dodge his next two attacks before I found what he was looking for. Edward's weakness was almost impossible to spot but when I found it, I knew exactly how to take him out.

He relied on his speed to help him win. Most would counter back with speed of their own, but not me. All I had to do was wait until the last possible second to dodge and he would falter.

Edward sank back into a crouch and a growl emitted from his mouth. After two more circles and me wondering if he was ever going to strike, he finally did. Edward came sailing towards me and I waited until I found the opening. I sank lower to the floor, reached my hands up and wrapped them around his ankle and pulled. Edward came tumbling to the floor and before he could even begin to know what happened, I was on top of him straddling his waist. "I told you I could handle myself," I whispered in his ear.

Edward shivered before replying, "I guess you're right."

He dropped his head back to the floor and I got up off of him. I gave him my hand and helped him back to his feet and we walked to the door. "I know how you fight Edward and I know you can handle yourself. I just don't want to see you fighting, because God forbid, if you fall, I will too."

He stopped me outside my door and looked deep into my eyes. "How will I know that you are safe if I can't see you with my own eyes?"

"All you have to do is believe in me and I will be okay," I replied. He wrapped his arms tight around me and rested his forehead against mine. Slowly he brought his lips to meet mine, and it was like ten years ago all over again. There was still that same electric rush. But things weren't completely the same, because when I moved to pull away, Edward just pulled me in deeper.

I don't know how long we were out there in the hall making out, but I finally pulled away for air. After a few breaths I turned to open my door. "Go pack, because we leave in ten minutes." And I closed the door on him.

Lucian, Jake and Nik were waiting for me in my room. Each was dressed similar to me; black fatigues and a tight black top with sturdy boots to kick ass in. Nik was making sure the Velcro on her pants was fastened correctly so when she morphed her clothes wouldn't rip. Jake was sharpening the knife that always took up residence somewhere on his body; I didn't care to know where, and Lucian was checking the magazine on his .45. I reached into the top drawer of the night stand and pulled out the gun Brennor had created for me. I checked to make sure everything was still in working order before sticking it in the back of my pants for easy access. I stuffed the butterfly knife that Ms. Mareva stuck me with into my right boot and stuck my glock next to the other gun in my waistband.

Slinging my duffle over my shoulder I turned to my friends. Jake looked at each of us. "Kick ass," he said.

"And kick it hard," Lucian and Nikolina continued.

"Rock and roll," I finished, and we all headed down to the back entrance of the castle to meet the others.

Emmett and Rosalie- always eager for a fight- were already there, as were Carlisle and Esme. I sent Esme with the group where the danger would be the least likely because I knew she was by far our weakest number. That and Carlisle would probably have killed me if I hadn't.

Edward arrived next looking ever bit of delicious dressed in his military black. I always thought tight pants on a guy made him look really gay, but Edward in tight black jeans was making me rethink some things. He walked up and stopped next to me, placing a kiss on my temple. I noticed Lucian's eyes darken a bit but I brushed it off. I'd ask him later.

Jasper and Alice arrived last and I immediately understood why. And I couldn't stop the laughter from pouring out when I looked at her. She was dressed in black leather pants and a skin tight corset top. She had all dark makeup and two black lines of gunk were drawn on her cheekbones.

When I couldn't stop my laughter she glared at me which only cause me to laugh harder. Finally when I calmed myself down enough to speak I asked, "Alice what is with the glare reduction lines on your cheeks?"

"Hey if I'm going into battle, I am going to look the part," she replied indignantly, stamping her healed boot on the pavement.

"Okay, female Shaft," I giggled before sobering myself up. "Alright, we all know where we are going. Krane could be at anyone of these locations as could Jane. She is most likely with him so if you find one, radio back to the rest of us and we'll be en-rout to your location. If you encounter Krane, be prepared for the fight to end all fights. Keep calm and remember everything about fighting that you have learned in your long, long years on this planet. Good luck everyone," I finished before turning towards my motorcycle.

Everyone else broke up to give each other small pep talks or to say goodbye to their mates before getting in their cars. I had just sat myself down on the bike when Edward appeared next to me. "Be safe," was all he said before kissing me long and deep. He pulled away and fastened the strap on my helmet for me. After brushing my cheek with his fingers he turned around and jumped in the car with the rest of his group and took off down the road.

I shook off the lust his kiss had caused in me and turned my gaze to the gauges on the motorcycle. Jasper fired up his bike and pealed down the road ahead of Lucian and me. He took off first so he could make sure the surrounding area was secure before Lucian and I would make our entrance.

I reached my hand out to Lucian to give his a squeeze but he pulled his hand away before I could. I didn't even get to tell him good luck before he pulled out. I knew Edward and I was upsetting him but I didn't think he would be a little bitch about it. When this was all over and done he and I would be having a serious talk about things.

I kick started my bike and pulled out down the cobblestone. I thundered down the draw bridge and pealed out through the city. The wind wiped at my face and the chill of it calmed me down.

I had planned everything meticulously and hand picked what group everyone would be in. But through all my planning and logic, I still felt like I was missing something.

* * *

**The song for this chapter is a must, if only for it's opening riff. Go listen to it. Review and get a sneak peak...TOODLES...**


	10. Black Balloon

**So yeah...I suck at updating...ONWARD...**

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of our favorite faces...But I do own Lucian and that makes me smile.**

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* * *

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**Hunter's Map**-----Fionn Regan

_Who was that fox caught in that trap, laid with hunter's map_

**Black Balloon**-----Goo Goo Dolls

_And I go on as you get colder, or are you someone's prayer_

* * *

We sped along the highway twisting and turning as the road took us. Jasper had been sending jokes my way and had been in constant contact through the radio the entire trip so far. But Lucian had been silent in his self induced temper tantrum. As soon as we made it to the location we would need to hash this all out. I wasn't going to go into the fight with him acting like this.

The weather got colder the further north we drove. By the time we were in the Czech Republic, I was glad that I had put on my coat before leaving Italy. The December wind was a killer.

We were making good time. I was glad that we had been taking the backwoods highways the entire trip. We hadn't encountered any other cars and I had been pushing 110 the whole way. Not my safest decision but we were on a time crunch.

We crossed the border into Poland at 1 am. We had about an hour and a half left of the drive before we hit our mark: the warehouse Krane's father had owned for his shoe factory, many, many years ago.

The last leg of the journey took no time at all and before I could really even blink, we were pulling up on the outskirts of Warsaw; Krane's warehouse was about 500 yards in front of us.

"Ok Jasper, you know what to do. Go set up the roof with the explosives." He nodded and darted off into the night.

"Lucian we need to discuss some stuff," I said grabbing his arm to keep him from running on ahead.

He shook off my hand and glared at me. "What," he bit off tersely.

"What is wrong with you?"

He looked as if he wanted to spit something sarcastic at me but changed his mind. "Subtlety really isn't your strong suit is it?"

I knew he was upset but really, this little hissy fit had gone on long enough. Now he was just being a child. "Would you stop acting like a little bitch! You have been downright cold and awful to me this last month and a half and it needs to stop."

"Well you haven't been that kind to me either, parading around in front of me with the person who virtually killed you ten years ago."

That stung. Lucian had no right to use that as an argument because he wasn't there to put me back together. He couldn't possibly understand because all he knew was what Jake had told him...which wasn't much.

I sent him a defeated look and shook my head. "What do you want me to say?"

"Why not me?" He asked grabbing my hands in his. "We were happy right? Yeah I know we broke up a lot but we were happy."

"Lucian, we don't work. Don't you think there was a reason why we broke up all those times? I drive you nuts Lu, and you piss me off. We just don't work together."

He tightened his grip on my hands. "We can change Bells. I'll stop being such a pompous ass. Can you just give us one more try," he said. I started to shake my head but he cut me off. "I love you Bella. One more try."

I hugged him close in what I feared would be the last time when I told him my answer. "Lucian, I love you too, and I always will. But I can't keep trying to make something work that can't be fixed. You may be able to stop pissing me off, but I can't change the things that bother you. I hurt you, and I can't do it anymore...I don't want to do it anymore," I whispered to him.

"Why is he different from me?" Lucian asked quietly, afraid to know my answer.

"I fell in love with someone who I gave my entire heart to. It was more than that, like I gave him my soul to replace his own. And when he stomped all over it, I stopped being me. And I hated him, for so long, I hated him. But that hate grew to indifference, and that indifference turned back into a friendship which eventually grew into love once more. It is exactly the same as the first time.

"There is just something to him that keeps me. And without my knowledge or permission, I gave him my heart and soul again. And I know he will keep it this time."

Lucian looked at me for a while not saying anything. I hoped he could understand what Edward was to me, because I didn't want to have to choose between my best friend and my hero.

In the distance a small flash of white shot off into the sky. Jasper had finished rigging the roof and was guarding the doors. Now it was time to move in.

Lucian took one last look at me. "Whatever," he said shortly before dashing off towards the warehouse.

"Lucian," I shouted after him. But he didn't slow or even make a notion that he heard me. So I took off after him towards the dark warehouse.

The night was silent and I eased the door open and slid into the dark room. From what I could gather, this was an anteroom, probably where the reception desk was located. My eyes scanned the darkness looking for anything that might cause trouble. There was a scuffle off to my left and I ripped the glock out of my pants and held it aloft. I edged closer to where the noise came from and was instantly knocked back by the smell of burning flesh. I cursed my luck that we were too late to help whoever it was that had the misfortune of running into Krane. I pulled out my small flashlight and pushed open the door.

The beam of light swept across the floor and when I pointed it into the air, I covered my mouth to stifle my cry. Hanging from the rafters of the small storeroom were three teenaged children. All were stripped naked and had been torched, most likely alive. I crossed myself and pulled the door shut.

I turned back into the lobby and tried to gather myself. I heard heavy footsteps above me. Someone was up there. I just hoped Jasper was still guarding the doors outside incase whoever it was tried to run.

I made my way to another door and opened it. More darkness but it was a hall way this time instead of a store room. _Where is Lucian_. It was stupid for him to run off ahead. Yeah he is pissed but jeeze whatever happened at checking your emotions at the door. Being alone wasn't safe for him or myself. We were stronger together.

I continued down the hall checking rooms and turning up empty handed. A few had been rigged and I had two close calls that left me reeling. I was getting skittish when I heard Lucian's voice shouting at the end of the hall. There was a shattering of glass and the rev of what sounded like a saw blade before I heard him scream. And I took off running.

All thoughts left my head as I tore through that dank and dark hallway. My own safety flew out the window because nothing else mattered except the primal need to keep my best friend safe.

It seemed as if the hallway was just getting longer the more I ran. Or perhaps I was just slowing down. Whatever the case, the longer it took to get to Lucian, the more danger he was in. As I tore through the hall the electricity flickered to life and I staggered at the drastic change. Bleary eyed, I reached the end of the hall and broke through the door. And what I saw stabbed me in the heart.

I stopped cold and started hyperventilating. My steps were staggered as I tumbled my way towards the conveyer belt. The smell of fresh blood hung in the air.

By the time I reached him, I was nearly blind with tears. He laid there limp, hanging off the conveyer belt; his only support was his leg sawed half off and lodged in the chains that moved the belt along. And I couldn't stop the sobs when Lucian opened his eyes and looked at me.

I rushed to him and cradled him to my chest. He made to try to speak but I stopped him short. "Don't talk," I said looking towards his leg to find a way to get him out. "Save your strength. We need to get your leg free so I can get you out of here."

"What about Krane," Lucian wheezed before turning his head and coughing blood onto the floor.

"Fuck Krane, I don't care. I have to get you out of here."

He shook his head and grasped my hand. "We both know you're lying. And we both know that I won't be getting out."

"No don't, I'll get you out. I have to," I chocked out through the constant stream of tears. But my hands stayed wrapped protectively around his chest, holding him to me.

He squeezed my hand through another coughing fit and when it subsided he looked me in the eye. "I need to know that you will be happy. When you off this fucker and you will off him, I need to know that you will be happy. Can Edward make you happy?"

"Really…now?" Was he seriously asking me this now? But instead of chastising him like I wanted too, the look on his face told me to stop. "Yes, he makes me more happy than I can ever remember being. But what does it matter?"

"It matters because now I can go…and know that I at least…did one thing right in my life. If I hadn't let…you go over to the house that night…then you wouldn't…have him," he chocked out before coughing some more. I leaned down and pressed my lips to his through my sobs.

"Bella, listen to me," he said as his eyes took on a glimmer of fright. "This is a trap. Your logic was wrong…and it played right into his hand. Nik's team found Jane. They radioed in about five minutes ago. She was in his childhood house. We were wrong. And we've been betrayed. Krane is..."

But he never finished. I heard the snap of the bullet before it hit Lucian square in the gut. "Oh just die already."

My neck craned at the sound of his voice but I couldn't even get anything out or register the fact that Lucian just died in my arms, before I felt the sharp blow to the base of my skull. And everything was dark.

* * *

**Epov**

I sat stiffly in my seat as I heard the promises of what we could have as members of the guard passed by my ears. But I wasn't paying any attention to them. I was too busy listening to the tenor of the three old men's thoughts. Marcus thought that my mind reading abilities would be a useful trick to have, but he really didn't care one way or another. With the prospect of mine and Alice's powers at his disposal, Aro was vividly planning the final demise of the Romanian ancients he had stolen the thrown from centuries ago. And Caius was too busy picturing Alice naked that I couldn't tell how he really felt about our gifts. But he did cause a disgusted shudder to run through me when I caught sight of his shriveled naked form.

I looked over at my favorite sister and noticed that she was sitting stark still and her eyes had glazed over. I quickly shifted my focus to her sight and it was horrific. _A dark figure was busy tightening the nooses around the necks of three terrified young adults. After pulling them aloft, the man set the floor below them aflame and left them gasping for air and crying out in horror and pain. He shut the door behind him and a second figure entered the view. The first turned to the second and said, "This ought to light a fire under her. She always luscious when she is pissed off." They both laughed manically before entering a narrow hallway._ Alice's vision petered out after that. She chanced a glance at me that told me what we needed to do.

Bella had warned us that if anyone caught wind of anything related to Krane, to keep it away from the Volturi at all costs. She was certain that the lords would try to have some say in how we were going to fight him and Bella wasn't going to have any of that. The look on her face had been down right scary during the entire conversation causing every one of us to heed her words. _We need to speed things up here Edward,_ Alice spoke.

As Aro continued to drone on, completely oblivious to my shared conversation with my sister, he seemed to be thrown off guard when she politely interrupted him. "I apologize your lordship, but this is a great deal for my brother and I to sift through. We have heard what you can offer us and we will think about it…but I must call it a day."

"I am terribly sorry my dear," he said, however he was anything but. "I did not realize how late it had gotten. Of course you may be dismissed. All I ask is that you think about our offer and let us know. You would be the most welcome addition to ever grace the guard."

"We thank you for putting so much faith in us your Lordship," Alice said sweetly, offering them a curtsey. She tugged on hem of my shirt when I didn't off a bow of my own. I glared at her but bowed nonetheless. After righting ourselves, we hastened to the door.

Only when we were safely down the hall and one floor up did Alice speak to me. "I don't know how Bella can put up with that. I was about ready to rip my ears off out of annoyance."

"At least you didn't have to witness Caius picturing you naked for an hour and a half," I replied.

"Belch, why did I need to know that? Oh, I need to go scrub," Alice gave a violent shudder. After calming back down, she looked back at me. "Go find Demetri. Felix should be with him; tell them what I saw. Bella said that they would know what to do." I started to run ahead but paused as Alice continued. "Oh and call the family to meet in Carlisle's room. I'll go find Bella." And with that we took off in opposite directions.

I dialed Jasper's number and he picked up right away. I gave him the scoop and he said that he would let Rose and Emmett know. Apparently they were being rather loud in their escapades and Jasper was having quite the time sending them different emotions that were completely killing the mood next door. I laughed and hung up the phone.

I zipped my way toward Demetri's quarters and knocked on his door. His tall and lithe frame opened the door shortly after. I could see Felix slouched in an overstuffed chair by the window. "Mr. Cullen, what can I do for you?"

"Sorry for the intrusion Demetri. My sister Alice and I believe that we have witnessed the first attack."

He needed no other words to spring him into action. "I thank you for letting me know. Felix," he turned and barked over his shoulder. Felix grunted in acknowledgement. "Get your ass up Bitch! It's time to go shank some tossers." Felix grunted again and I chuckled as Demetri shut the door in my face.

Shaking my head I turned and made my way to Carlisle and Esme's room.

* * *

We all sat quietly and listened as Bella went over the plan of attack. But once Bella split us into groups I had to quickly mask my glower. I had been banking on being in her group this entire time. It had never even crossed my mind that she would put me somewhere else.

I was irritated once we broke apart and went to our rooms. I slammed my door and threw myself down on the bed in a huff. How was I supposed to fight knowing that she could be in danger? If I was with her at least I would know if anything happened and would be there to help her out of it. There was no way I would be able to fight without her by my side.

With the resolve to tell her all of this, I heaved my frame off the bed and opened the door that conjoined our rooms. But I stopped dead in my tracks when I took sight of her. She was bent over fastening the buckle on her boot and when she stood back up, I had to fight to stay upright. Bella was dressed in all black; a pair of loose fitting fatigues was covering her legs and a black long sleeved mock neck shirt that looked to be painted on was adorning her frame. Her once curly hair was now sitting snug to her head in tight braids.

I had never seen her this way before and the effect was disarming. She looked so much like a warrior, and the effect was turning me on. I sat there in a daze for I don't even know how long. But once Bella raised her eyebrow at me in confusion, I snapped my self out of my stupor.

I explained to her the reason why I needed to be in her group and I expected her to tell me to suck it up and deal with it. But I never expected the answer that I got. "I won't be able to fight at all if you are with me because all I would be able to do is try to keep you safe. I wouldn't be able to do what I have to do because I would be too worried about you."

"You have no reason to worry about me Bella, I am more than capable to handle it," I replied pulling her closer to me.

"And you don't need to worry about me. I've fought this guy before, albeit ending badly, but I have become so much stronger in the last four years. I know I can beat him now Edward."

I still had my reservations about her fighting without me. I had never seen her fight so I didn't know if she was truly as good as she said. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I don't want to get hurt either," She replied making me laugh. I think she could tell that I still wasn't comfortable with the idea so she came up with the plan of sparing with me to show me what she could do.

We walked down the hall to one of the empty rooms and shut ourselves in. After clearing the furniture from the middle of the room, we both took opposite sides. After taunting me a bit about using my full strength on her, I sank into a crouch. And before she even had time to counter me, I sprang across the room at her.

Bella just barely dodged me and by the time I had turned to face her again, she was in her fighting stance. The girl had good form. She was low to the ground cutting off the opening to her center of gravity. She was also light on her feet as we circled each other. I waited for her to attack but she never did. So I sprang at her again, and again she was just out of reach. Bella was a defensive fighter…and a good one at that.

I watched as her eyes followed my movements and noticed when an excited glint took over them. _What did you find darling?_ There was no way she would beat me. And once I proved it to her I would make her put me in her group. With this new determination I jumped for her once last time.

And she didn't even move out of the way. I knew I had her. My fingers reached for her throat but came up with nothing but air. And I found myself falling to the floor with a thud. I looked up and there she was straddling my waist. When did this happen? How did this happen? I had her!

"I told you I could handle myself," she whispered in my ear.

Her words caused a shiver to run down my spine. "I guess you're right," I responded breathlessly. She got up off me and held out her hand. I grasped hold of it and she hauled me up off the floor. Hand in hand we walked out into the hallway.

"I know how you fight Edward and I know you can handle yourself. I just don't want to see you fighting, because God forbid, if you fall, I will too."

I stopped her outside her door and looked deep into her eyes. "How will I know that you are safe if I can't see you with my own eyes?"

"All you have to do is believe in me and I will be okay," Bella replied softly. My arms wrapped around her and I rested my forehead against hers. And without my permission, my head bent down and I felt my lips brush hers. _Too long…it has been far too long_. I finally felt like I could breathe again after all this time. I had spent too many years choking that I had forgotten how sweet it was to breathe. And when she began to pull away, I just pulled her right back and continued to breathe with her.

I breathed her for as long as I could before I had to let her go so she could breathe for real. Her face was flushed and it was still the same shade of crimson that I loved. It took Bella a few moments to right herself and when she did she looked up at me. I had been hoping to finally hear her say it, because I knew within the depths of my hollow body, that she felt it too. And when she opened her mouth to speak, nothing could wipe the smile from my face. "Go pack, because we leave in ten minutes." The door shut in my face…and my smile was wiped clean. Apparently I was mistaken.

I shook my head in amusement and opened my door. I hustled around the room and threw a myriad of crap into my rucksack. I had a change of clothes just like Bella had requested and I also threw in a jacket for good measure. It was sure to get windy tonight and I wanted to have something to cut it back a little.

I looked over at the night table next to the bed for a beat before walking over to it and sitting down. My hand hovered over the drawer as I tried to decide if what resided in that drawer was really necessary. Bella had said that Krane would have humans fighting along side him. Within myself I had the power to destroy anything but I didn't relish the thought of my bare hands killing anyone. I had done too much of that in the past. And when I converted back to the vegetarian lifestyle, I promised that I would never let my venom destroy any human ever again.

I guess that decided it. I pulled out the drawer and removed the little pistol from its hiding place. It had been my father's and had been passed down to every male in the Massen family. It had originally belonged to my grandfather of four generations prior. It was part of the stock supplies that every soldier in the Revolutionary war possessed.

My father had passed away before he could pass it down to me. About twenty years after my change, I went back to the Massen estate in Chicago and rutted through all of our belongings. I had been there for a week cleaning out the place so it could be livable for Carlisle, Esme and I. I remember finding the small pistol in the back of the closet in my father's study. It had always been one of my favorite items of his to look at while I was human. I could still remember what he told me it meant. "Edward, this pistol is a symbol of our responsibility to keep the ones we love safe. When you have someone worth protecting, it will belong to you." My father never got the chance to give it to me. I took it that night even though I had not found someone to protect.

I had never fired it. Hell, I didn't even know if it still worked. But it would be a comfort to have a little bit of my history with me tonight. I had never felt right about taking the gun from my father's belongings before I was ready. But finally I felt that shame washing clean. I had finally found someone to protect. Even if I couldn't be with her physically, I would be protecting Bella with it tonight.

I stuck the pistol in the waistband of my jeans and slung my rucksack over my shoulder. I flicked off the lights as I entered the hall. I made a quick stop at Jasper and Alice's room to see if they were ready to head down to the bridge. Jasper informed me that his wife was still in the process of "gearing up for war", whatever that meant, so I made my way down to the drawbridge without them.

Emmet and Rose were there along with my parents. They were talking quietly with Jacob and Nikolina, probably going over some last minute details. I directed my steps toward her and pulled up beside Bella. After wrapping my arm around her shoulder, I pressed a kiss to her temple.

Jasper and Alice appeared a few moments later and I heard Bella erupt into a fit of giggles. I turned to see what had her so worked up when I caught sight of my sister. I couldn't stop my laughter either. I didn't bother to ask Alice about her wardrobe because I knew I would get some kind of snide remark thrown back at me. But Bella had the guts to ask her. And just like I knew she would, Alice let the snide remark fly.

I felt Bella pull away from my side to address the lot of us. I instantly missed the completeness I felt when I held her. "Alright, we all know where we are going. Krane could be at anyone of these locations as could Jane. She is most likely with him so if you find one, radio back to the rest of us and we'll be en-rout to your location. If you encounter Krane, be prepared for the fight to end all fights. Keep calm and remember everything about fighting that you have learned in your long, long years on this planet. Good luck everyone," Bella said to us. It was a good pep talk.

She sat herself down on her motorcycle and was about it kick it alive when I appeared at her side. "Be safe," was all I said to her before kissing her long and deep. I pulled away leaving her breathless and red in the face. I gently fastened the strap on her helmet and brushed my fingers down her red cheek. I took one last look at her before hopping over to the sleek black sedan and climbing in after my mother. The car shot off down the road and I watched through the back window as Bella fired up her bike and took off after us.

* * *

The car stayed constant at a speed of 120 miles per hour as we wove our way along the back roads of rural Europe. The sky had darkened considerably since we had set out on this mission; a storm was coming. I could only hope that Alice wasn't wrong about our time frame.

Bella's group was a constant sentinel behind us as we cruised through the night. But when we hit Warsaw, our car hung a left for the center of the city, while she flew passed us headed for the outskirts. And just like that, my sense of security disappeared. We were on our own.

I focused my attention to the task at hand. I rolled down the window to catch any scent I could and was instantly assaulted with the scents of at least eight vampires.

"Anything Edward," Esme asked from her spot next to me. I saw Emmett's eyes flick to the rearview mirror so I knew he was listening.

"I'm getting around eight distinct tangs. What about you Nikolina?"

Nik had been hanging her head out the window and pulled back in when I called out to her. "I can't be positive since all are very similar, but I think there are at least ten of them. For the rest of the short drive, we talked strategy and who was going to go where.

Krane's childhood home came into view and I was stunned. From what Bella had said about him, I figured his family would have lived in a descent sized home. I knew the family had been rich, but I didn't know that they were obscene. The family home was easily twice the size of our home in Forks. It was no wonder why his family was targeted during the Nazi invasions.

Lights were burning when we pulled up the drive so we knew we were in the right place. Now we just had to find out if we were in the correct place. Emmett shut off the car at the entrance of the property and we scurried into the bushes to escape detection. "Nik and I will go in first and head for the roof to set up," Emmett said in a hushed voice; an obvious strain for him. "Once we give you the signal that we have cleared the roof Esme, you and Edward take opposite sides of the house. Ed, you take the back with Nik and Esme and I will take the front. Watch for the signal." And with that, Emmett and Nik took off and melted into the dark night.

Esme and I sat quietly in the darkness. I tried to tune out the tenor of her mind, wanting absolute silence to spend this time in. And it worked for awhile, until I heard her project out to me. _Are you alright Edward? You were withdrawn the entire trip here._

I broke my gaze from my interlocked fingers and looked at her. I didn't reply to her, only letting a sigh escape me. _She will be fine Edward. Bella is probably the strongest one out of all of us. And she has the added bonus of fighting this tyrant before._

"I know all of this Esme and I believe you. But I still can't shake the feeling that Bella was wrong about something. It's like we are missing one crucial detail," I said running my hands through my hair. "I also don't like the fact that I am away from her. I know that she is an excellent fighter; we spared earlier today. But I can't get this ache out of my chest. It feels like I have lost her."

"You haven't lost her Edward, and you won't lose her. All you need to do is believe in her, and Bella will be able to do what needs to be done." I looked at Esme with wide eyes. Bella had said the same thing. "You're not alone in this feeling. We all are feeling it right now since we are all separated. That ache we feel is the manifestation of the stark fear we all have that we will lose our mates. But it goes away if you believe that they will be fine. I don't feel it now because I know Carlisle will pull through. Believe that she will be fine, and she will be."

"Has anyone ever told you that you are one smart lady," I asked her, causing her to stifle a giggle.

"Not recently," She replied just as a jet of white light shot into the air. "They've cleared the roof. I'll see you back here soon." And with a squeeze to my hand, Esme darted off for the front of the house.

I took off into the night in the direction of the back. The grass was wet with the early morning dew and it was springy under my feet. I wasn't running at my full speed so it took a little bit longer to reach the back of the house. As I was rounding the corner, Nik was waiting for me at the back door. "We good," I asked her.

"Let's do this thing," She replied pulling something out of one of the pockets on her pants. She unrolled a pair of thin metal sticks and put both of them into the doorknob. She looked up at me quickly before continuing. "I picked these lock picks up in the Kazakhstan while on a mission with Lucian. They are the best I have ever used. Now, once we get in, we need to fan out. Emmett is taking the basement and Esme is on the main floor. We'll both take the second and third floors. We need to be quick." And the lock clicked on the door. Nikolina placed her tools back into her pocket and opened the door as silently as possible.

We crept our way through the kitchen and into one of the front rooms in search of the staircase. I saw Esme as she silently approached one of the many vampires in the house. He was reclined back on a couch reading a book. And he must have been really engrossed with it because he didn't even smell my mother coming. She was upon him and snapping his neck before he even noticed she was there.

We hurried up the stairs and entered the first room we came to. It appeared to be an office of some kind. Papers littered the floor and desk and books that had been pulled from the shelves were lying haphazardly all over the room. I noticed the glow of the computer screen and went to sit myself down at it.

I rifled through the open documents and noted the contents. A whole lot of money had been deposited into a Swiss bank account recently, and there were the numbers of other accounts that the money was being filtered in to. Another document showed detailed floor plans of an enormous complex in Canada. I couldn't find a name for the building I was looking at. And the last document contained scans of two birth certificates…twins.

The door creaked open and a shaft of light illuminated me at the computer and Nikolina hunched over the desk looking at some of the printed documents. We both looked up to take in the shocked look of the two humans before us. They didn't waste anytime drawing knives from their pockets and rushing at us. Nik and I sprang apart and each took one on.

He rushed me and slashed at me, cutting a slice into my shirt. Before I even had time to register the fact that my favorite shirt was ruined, he had come at me again…this time his shot was more effective. It had been a long time since I had felt a knife wound and I remembered why I hated them. I wrenched the man's hand off of the knife and threw him across the room.

I looked down at my chest and the knife sticking out of it. These things hurt almost as bad as venom wounds. I gently grasped the hilt and pulled it from my flesh. The wound instantly sealed itself. By now my assailant had righted himself and was running towards me. I tossed the knife in his direction and it embedded itself into chest. My attacker fell to the floor shouting in pain.

I turned to see Nik finishing off her attacker who was shouting in pain as well. _Way to make our presence known guys._ We quickly shut the two in the room and moved down the hall.

After three more rooms and three more attacks we headed for the third floor. There was a vampire at the end of the hall guarding the door so I knew something important was behind it. We ran down the hall and both sprang into the air as the vampire attacked. I collided with him and kept him busy while Nikolina worked on picking open the locked door.

I had to give him credit. This vampire knew how to fight. But he was nowhere near my level. I dodged a few attacks before finally getting a good hold on his head. Wrenching it from his body, I threw it down the hall and listened as it bounced down the stairs. The rest of his body fell to the floor.

I turned back to Nikolina who had gotten the door unlocked. She pushed it open and we found ourselves in what appeared to be a dark playroom. Dusty wooden toys littered the floor and a broken rocking horse sat in the corner. I looked up as I heard a scuffle and a moan of pain coming form across the room. A small girl was bound and gagged and was lying face down on the floor. Nik and I rushed over to her and turned her over. I was instantly hit with a thousand fire tipped knives. I dropped to the floor grasping my head in agony, trying to bite back the pain.

And when it felt like I couldn't take it any longer, it vanished. I slowly sat up to see Nik on top of the little girl with her knee in her back and bared teeth at her neck. The girl was struggling but was losing the battle. "If I let you go, will you play nice with my friend here?" Nik asked in a sinister voice.

The girl glared at me one last time before nodding her head. Nikolina pulled back and got up off of her, pulling the gag out of the girl's mouth. "I think you cracked my spine fat ass," She spit at Nik. I saw my friend's eyes flash and I had to wrap my arms around her chest to keep her from attacking the girl on the floor.

"We could very easily leave you here tied up on the floor," I tossed back at her. She looked at me with a sneer. "Your name is Jane right?"

"Give the man a prize," she spit at me.

"Do you want us to leave you here, because we can easily do that? Aro and the boys won't be happy but I think I'd rather deal with them than listening to you bitch some more," Nik said taking a seat on the floor in front of Jane.

I noticed her ears prick at the mention of Aro. "Why do you speak his name?"

I sat down next to Nikolina. "He sent us to find you and bring you back."

She glared at us again before replying, "Good luck with that. I thought it was a blessing when Krane stole me out of that compound. But I think I would rather be back in that disgusting science lab getting shot with those UV darts now that I know what he really had taken me for."

"We know all about it, so save us the sob story," Nik said leaning over towards her. Jane instantly recoiled.

"Why don't we let the vampire unlock me wolf, I don't think I could last the short time it takes with your smell in my nose."

"Is there any way you can shut her up for me Edward?"

"Not any way that is legal Nik," I replied taking the tools from her outstretched hand. I made quick work of the lock and once I had it open, I unwound the chains from Jane's small wrists and ankles.

"Thank you, those were starting to get annoying," Jane said rubbing her wrists.

"Can you walk," I asked her. She nodded her head in affirmation. "Good, then let's get moving. Nik, call the others."

We made our way out of the room and into the hallway. I was still wary, keeping my eyes out for any more assailants. Emmett and Esme were tossing body parts into a fire in the back yard when we reached them. "Oh wonderful," Esme exclaimed, rushing over to us and taking Jane's hands into her own. "I do hope you are alright dear."

"I'm fine Grandma, now let me go," Jane spit the insult back at my mother.

Esme let go of her hands and walked over to me. "She isn't very nice now is she?" I just shook my head and wrapped an arm over her shoulder. "Is Nikolina calling the others?"

I was about to answer her when I caught wind of what Nik was actually saying. She had the phone on speaker so we could all hear. "Lucian, we found her. Yeah she was being held on the third floor of the house. No we are all fine. I don't know what Bella was talking about; there has been no sign of Krane anywhere. But we did find a room full of documents that incriminate him for a bunch of shady shit."

"That is good news Nik. I guess since you haven't found Krane just keep her there for now. Bells and I are still searching the warehouse but we should…" A door opened and what sounded like metal hitting metal rang out over the line. "What the hell…what are you…"But Lucian never finished. Over the line we could hear what sounded like a buzz saw and then a scream of pain.

"LUCIAN!!!!" Nik screamed. His shouts of pain cut off abruptly as the line went dead.

Nik dropped her phone to the ground and fell to her knees. I was instantly by her side shaking her. Her eyes, once full of light and amusement, were now dull and lifeless. She brought her hand up and started rubbing her chest. "It hurts Ed."

"Nik, what's happening," Emmett asked coming over to her other side. He helped me lay her back to the ground.

"It hurts to breathe. It feels like my heart is being shredded."

"Everything is going to be fine Nik. We don't know what exactly happened. It probably wasn't even Lucian screaming."

"The why does it feel like I am pumping acid instead of blood, Emmett?"

I knew she was right. Something had happened to Lucian. Jacob had told me of the bond between the Durang and their protector. It was something so strong and deep that it transcended time and distance. Jake had told me that he could always feel Bella and could tell when she needed him. He felt what she felt…and vice versa.

So if Nik was reacting this way, it meant that Lucian was severely hurt. My mind flashed to Bella. I would know if she were hurt right? Whatever happened to Lucian could just as easily happen to her. I don't care what he told us, I was going to that warehouse. "Let's go guys. We need to help."

Emmett gathered Nikolina in his arms and we rushed for the car. But as we rounded the corner an unexpected obstacle blocked our path. Apparently, one of the adversaries in the house had somehow gotten word out that there was an attack, because about fifty yards in front of our car stood a line of twenty adversaries.

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**Thanks for reading...review for a sneak peak at whats next...TOODLES...**


	11. My Last Breath

**I have no excuses except that I was studying for the Graduate Record Examination and filling out Grad school applications. There is only one more chapter and an epilogue. Enjoy it while it lasts. ONWARD...**

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of our favorite faces...but I do own Lucian...and that makes me smile...**

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**Hunter's Map**-----Fionn Regan

_Who was that fox caught in that trap, laid with Hunter's map_

**My Last Breath-----**Evanescence

_Look for me in the white forest, hiding in a hollow tree_

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It was dark out tonight. The wind thrashed against the sides of the enclosure and nearby trees groaned at the strain. Rain pelted the soft ground; the grass already saturated to the fullest extent acted as sink holes to any amount of weight. A streak of white cut open the black sky, briefly illuminating the cell through the smallest of windows. On the floor, bound and soaking, she lay.

I was ripped back to consciousness when a peal of thunder broke through the walls of the warehouse. I groggily tried to sit up only to be knocked back down by the searing pain in my wrists. They were bound behind my back so I couldn't inspect the damage already done.

I scooted myself over to the stone wall and leaned my back against it, panting through the effort. I let my head thud back but I was too exhausted to care about the slight pain it caused. I was too exhausted to care about anything anymore. All I wanted to do was sleep. I closed my eyes and waited for the world of dreams to take me. But it never came.

I sighed indignantly. It seemed as if I couldn't do anything right these days. I couldn't plan out an effective attack strategy, I couldn't get myself out of these bonds…I couldn't save my best friend from death, and I couldn't even sleep when I wanted to. What a failure I am.

"Snap out of it Swan," I scolded myself aloud. My voice echoed against the walls. "You can wallow in self pity later. There is always a way out, now find it!"

My eyes darted all over my cell looking for something…anything. A way out, a place to hide, something to break these bonds around my wrists. All I could come up with was a small niche in the opposite corner. Part of the wall had caved in and was recessed about four feet back. Not very helpful.

I pushed away from the wall, biting back a grimace as another stab of pain shot through my hands. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down. I would need to be completely calm for this to work. It hurt enough on its own, and now with the added pain coming from moving my hands, I knew I was in for it.

Slowly, ever so slowly, I pressed my chest forward and began lifting my arms up. More pain shot through my wrists but it was nothing compared to the stiffness I felt in my shoulders. This was most likely due to the fact that I had been lying on my hands for however long I had been out for.

I continued to move my arms and with each added inch of height, I was less successful at keeping quiet. Just as I was about to give up and end the pain, I felt my shoulders slide forward in their sockets and I was able to bring my arms down in front of me. The sheer amount of physical strain it put on my body had me collapsing back onto the floor. But at least I had partial use of my hands now.

With my hands in plain view now, I was finally able to inspect my bonds. And what I found sickened me. They were chains…no big deal there except that they had been coated with vampire venom. The blisters surrounding my wrists were impossible to misdiagnose.

As I sat there lying on the floor recuperating, I couldn't help but let the betrayal wash over me. How could he have done this to us? And more importantly, why? I had trusted him with my life. He was the one who taught me everything and made me believe that there was some good in this world worth fighting for. Even though I hated Kafale for everything he had put me through over the last six years, I never expected something like this to happen. How had I been duped so easily?

I caught myself before I fell back into the pit of self pity. I would just have to deal with Kafale's betrayal later. I first need to figure out a way to get these chains off. My eyes searched the room again sweeping the walls a few times before taking on the floor. It was littered with chunks of rock where the wall had collapsed and a few of the pieces looked to be big enough.

I scooted myself over and pulled a sizeable chunk towards me. Clasping my hands together, I slammed my wrists down on top of the cinder rock. I cringed at the loud noise my actions had caused. Looking down all I found was the rock in a few pieces, and my hands still tightly bound. The venom laced chains bit painfully into my skin.

I grabbed another chunk of rock and repeated my actions. Again the rock broke apart leaving me still bound. After another three tries I gave up on the rock chunks and focused my attention on the jagged outcropping of wall surrounding the niche. I got to my feet and rammed my hands into the wall a few times. Bits of cinder and dust burst out around me but I couldn't let it bother me. It only took a few more loud hits before I felt the chains break and my wrists fell free.

I sank down to wall and rested, cradling my wrists to my chest. Blood was flowing slowly and the skin had been burned away revealing the muscle and tendons below. _This is so gross_. But there was one small silver lining to it all. If I got out of here alive, I would have some pretty sick looking scars to show off.

I was continuing my search of the room in the hopes of finding anything to help me escape when I heard the footsteps coming down the hall. I quickly tossed the broken chains into the niche behind me and stuck my hands behind my back to keep up the charade.

The door opened and I forced the hiss away when he came into my view. "Ah you are awake, that pleases me," Kafale said lightly sitting down on the floor in front of me. When I didn't reply he continued, "I hope you won't be too upset with me my Isabella."

"Oh sure, I'm not upset with you," I replied in a sweetly sarcastic tone. "You only killed my best friend and caused me to get the worst wounds I have ever been inflicted with. But no harm no foul."

"I never appreciated your sarcastic nature Isabella."

"And I never appreciated your face Kafale," I spit back at him. "Why don't you spare me the small talk and tell me what the fuck is going on!"

"Now why would I do that? You are just going to die soon anyway, why should I explain it to you?"

I glared at him. "Because no matter how big of a rat you are, it is still the honorable thing to do."

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow almost as if he were pondering what I had said. "You are right; it is the honorable thing to do. I supposed you want to know everything, yes?"

I glared at him again before he continued. "Why don't you ask me a question first so I know how to begin? It is a rather lengthy story."

"Fine; why are you helping him? It goes against everything we know as a species."

"Would you do anything for your family Isabella? For your father or your mother? I would do anything for mine." I looked at him in confusion. "I would do anything for my family which is why when my brother asked me to help him defeat the injustices done to him, I couldn't refuse." I made to interrupt him but he cut me off. "There is one neat little trick about me Isabella that no one in the organization knows about. All of my other powers have been disclosed but I kept this one a secret. It is by far my most impressive." Kafale closed his eyes and as he exhaled, his dark skin melted to a pale white. "I can make anyone believe what I want them to believe. If I want someone to think I am 100 years old, I can." Again his appearance changed to reveal a wizened old man. He let the façade drop and he returned to his pasty self.

"I don't get it. So you're a shape shifter, big deal. That doesn't explain why you are helping Krane."

He looked at me like I was a complete idiot. "I call it ultimate hypnotism and I already told you little girl, I would do anything to help my family. Look closer at me. Do I resemble anyone to you?"

I looked at his face for a spell. His features were similar to how they had been when I thought he was Egyptian. Big deal. But when I really began to study him, it was obvious. I can't believe I never noticed it before. "Oh my god...Krane is your brother!"

"My twin in fact," he smiled a sick grin. "By knowing his back story, you know mine. Our family was ripped apart during the Nazi invasion but I still had my brother. We made a vow as our parents were being carted off for Dachau that we would stay and fight. That we would help stop this tyrant.

"And then my brother was taken from me one night. I watched as he was attacked by a ghost, pale as the moon with hair just as white. I expected my brother to die, what I didn't expect was for the monster to leave him screaming in pain on the ground.

"I stayed with Krane and for three days I agonized with him. And when he came out of it, we both knew what he was. Krane forced me to leave that night to keep me safe. But I vowed I would come back for him one day.

"And that was when I started my research. It's amazing what info you can find when you look in the right places. After two years alone, I stumbled onto something that peaked my interest. There was word of a human hybrid that was born to keep humans and vampires alike safe. I dug some more and discovered what we are. So I searched all over the planet for that human. It took me four years but I finally found her in the jungles of Indonesia. I told her that I knew what she was and that I wanted to help her. She believed me once I told her of my brother's plight. I spent a year befriending her and learning from her everything I would need to know to help my brother. And once I knew enough, I killed her."

I couldn't believe it. He was a fraud. My mentor was a fake. But before I could say anything, Kafale continued with his tale. "I waited six months before going to the compound. And they welcomed me just like they welcomed you. And there I continued to learn and continued in my plans to help my brother. It was only seven years ago that we put our pan in motion.

"We had survived one tyrant already; we refused to survive another. While I was learning my new role, Krane was watching the Volturi. The power hungry old fools were getting too powerful. More and more humans were being abducted and being replaced in different world government positions. It was clear to him that the Volturi were dangerously close to following in Hitler's footsteps. So they needed to be stopped."

"What does any of this have to do with me," I asked leaning closer to him. "I mean, you were already the "go to guy". Why would you risk bringing me into the fold when it was a possibility that I would find out?"

He regarded me carefully as he picked out the right words. "I did not realize when I infiltrated the organization that my predecessors would be so nosy. Did you know how closely you were watched your first few years Isabella? Well, everything was fine the first year the plan was in motion. Krane and I were systematically destroying vampires that held stock to the old men in Italy. They were low level vampires of course; no one would bat an eyelash over them.

"As you already know Isabella, every vampire that we kill goes on record. Well, it didn't really sit too well when the vampires I had been killing turned out to be of the Ethos species. After four Ethos turned up in the registry, my predecessor began sniffing around again. Naturally I had to do something."

"How did you know how to find me? I wouldn't have known anything if you hadn't shown up in my dorm room that day," I asked intrigued with this sick story.

"Every Durang can tell when a new birth has taken place. And it is relatively easy to find him or her when the time is right. The gene is only found in four different blood lines. So when a birth takes place, we seek out those blood lines for any newborn children to determine if they possess the gene." My eyes widened at this bombshell. "I knew exactly where to find you Isabella. That scar on your arm was present at your birth. And because of its location, I knew exactly when I needed to find you again. I was just so glad it came at the right time."

I was stunned to say the least. This went so much deeper than I had imagined. As I sat there dumbfounded a stray thought zipped through my mind making me giggle. Kafale knew everything about me. He knew what I was when I was born and made note of when to come back for me…thinking about it that way made him come off as a real creeper. I giggled some more.

But I forced my humor back down. Laughing wasn't going to solve the problem of escaping. My eyes darted back to the door and widened ever so slightly so as not to tip my captor off. Kafale had shut the door. But since it locked from the outside, he left it unlatched so as not to get locked in himself. I had my escape; now all I had to do was find a way to make it work.

I had to think of something to keep him talking so he would be preoccupied while I searched for something useful. I didn't really have that many options considering I had to keep my hands behind my back. As I began my feeble search I asked, "I still don't understand why you needed me? Yes I know people were starting to get nosy but how was I going to help get that to stop?"

He turned back to face me and gave me a slight simper. "I needed you to take over for me. With you taking on the title, I was free to kill as many vampires as I wanted, without having the kills find way to the register."

Well that sucked. "So how did you come up with the idea of kidnapping Jane? How could you have possibly thought that would've worked?"

His simper turned to a full out smile now. "I was the one to personally nab her. And before you ask how I got into Volterra because I know you want to, I went on a mission of good faith to let them know that once the new Durang was born, you Isabella would be more than happy to join them."

And right then, I almost blew my cover. My vision turned red and I let out one of the loudest growls I have ever emitted.

He laughed and waved my growl away so he could continue. "I found out that night where her mission was taking her, and after I left Volterra, I found her quickly. It wasn't hard to snatch her when she was being asked to take a midnight stroll with her dear brother Alec. Yes she was confused about his appearance at first but that problem was easily solved when I cracked open her skull.

"She was only supposed to stay at the compound overnight and Krane was supposed to take her that next evening. What I didn't plan on was Dr. Steele finding her in one of the detention rooms and turning her into a lab rat.

"Once Dr. Steele began his tests, she was out of my jurisdiction and I could do nothing about it. I knew that it was a possibility that the Volturi would find out she was missing, but I figured I would just have to cross that bridge when I came to it. What I didn't expect was for them to contact my wonderful brother. With their permission to snatch her from the good doctor, Krane no longer needed to wait. He told me when he would strike, and I was good enough to unlock the loading bay doors and conveniently leave the sub level lab passwords out where he could find them."

I had to give him credit. This was a well thought out plan, and though it may have had some rough edges, fate had been kind to him.

There was still one thing I wanted to know and I stalled my thoughts as my hands continued their search behind me. There were only rock chunks and the venom chains behind me. I knew the chains wouldn't burn him as badly as they had me because he wasn't a true Durang. But if I could somehow just get them around his neck the situation could play out in similar fashion. "You should've known that the Volturi would call me when your brother didn't return with Jane in tow."

"Yes you did turn out to be more of a problem than an asset didn't you," Kafale said walking closer towards me. "You and Lucian really did mess everything up for us when you agreed to help. I had banked on you refusing."

"Well when they told me that we had kidnapped her in the first place I kind of figured I would have to pay for it personally," I spit at him.

"Yes and when we found out about your involvement, our plans deviated. You knew about my brother and where he could be hiding. We wouldn't be able to just ambush you if you happened to stop by since you could have potentially known it was coming. That was why we set up all those neat little traps like the one Lucian got himself killed in."

This time I really spit at him and the glare he gave me as he wiped my saliva off his face was one that made my blood run cold. "That trap was intended for you Isabella…but I will admit, it was rather sweet watching Lucian die in it. And since I already took care of that blond fellow up on the roof," Oh my god, Jasper! I had completely forgotten about him. My heart ripped open even more with the thought of what had happened to him. Alice would never forgive me.

"Now I get to have the pleasure of killing you with my bare hands." He stepped right in front of me and I hissed when he slapped me across the face.

And like the coward I knew he always was, Kafale leaned down to taunt me some more before he killed me. And it was all the opening I needed. "You always did smell delicious during battle. Maybe I should take you before I kill you. What do you..." Before he could finish, my arms ripped from behind me and I had the chain wrapped as tightly as I could get it around his neck.

He put up a good fight too. Kafale still had the use of his arms and he was using them to hit, claw and choke me as well. I pulled my arms tighter as his hands clamped down around my throat. Even in distress his grip was strong and I was afraid that my strength might not hold up against his.

I was already weakened from the venom on my wrists, and my strength was quickly draining. I pulled tighter and tried to somehow struggle out of his chokehold. My vision went dark and everything turned hazy. Kafale was still struggling but with a lot less effort and just as I was about to succumb to his hold, I gave my arms one final tug and Kafale collapsed to the floor.

I pried his fingers off my neck and coughed multiple times trying to get as much oxygen as I could. And just like Felix had taught me, I gave Kafale a good swift kick. His body gave no reaction. For good measure, I brought my hands to his head and snapped his neck. Well he was certainly dead now.

I didn't linger as I bolted for the door and wrenched it open. I shot down the hall with only one thing on my mind. Escape. But as I continued to run down hallways and up staircases, I realized that my job still wasn't done. I still needed to kill Krane. And as much as I wanted to escape with my life, I went into this thing knowing that death was a very high possibility. But I had to finish the job. So as my feet skidded to a stop, I started devising a plan in my head.

If Krane hadn't heard our struggle, he would have defiantly heard my rather thunderous exit into the hallway. And if he was anything like I knew him to be, he was sneaking up on me as I sat here and planned my next move.

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**Epov**

From my spot on the ground, I watched as Emmett ripped the head off of the last vampire in our path. Esme helped him toss the body onto the pile before flicking open her lighter. The purple smoke melted into the pale sky of dawn.

Was it dawn already. I hadn't realized that this fight had taken quite so long. But I guess with Nikolina indisposed it was reasonable. I turned my head and made sure she was still where Emmett had laid her down before jumping into battle. From what I could tell, she was unconscious. I can't even begin to understand what she must be feeling right now. A part of her soul had been ripped from her. It must be unimaginable.

Esme walked over to her and lifted her swiftly before heading to the car. She nodded to Emmett and I watched as he made his way over to me. I dropped my head back onto the grass and let out a groan of pain. "Stop crying you wuss," Emmett said as he bent down to my level.

"I have a four inch lacerated pipe sticking out of my arm and a compound fracture in my leg. I may be immortal, but this shit still hurts!"

"Well, just don't get blood on me," He quipped, and before I could even think of a retort, the pipe was being yanked out of my arm. The pain in my arm doubled but I couldn't even think when Emmett snapped my leg into place. A scream tore out of my throat and my arm shot out and clipped him in the jaw.

"A little warning next time Emmett," I seethed as I gingerly got to my feet. I applied some pressure to my newly set leg and I could feel the bones melding back together.

I gave Emmett my hand and helped him to his feet. He was rubbing his jaw a bit, but looked at me with amusement. "Its no wonder you got beat. The only time you can land a hit is when you are on the ground. How have you lasted this long with your battle skills?"

"Would pure luck be good enough for you," I joked, pushing him in the direction of the car where Esme and Nik were waiting. He just laughed and punched my shoulder before hopping into the driver's seat.

We shot off down the dirt road back towards the center of town. The sun was quickly approaching and it had been at least an hour since Lucian's phone call. Probably longer given how light the sky looked. I just prayed we would be able to get there in time.

We had been on the road maybe five minutes when my phone rang. I ripped it from my pocket desperate to find Bella's number flashing back at me. But I sank when I realized it was Alice. "Alice now is not the time," I said quickly. I had no idea why she would be calling but I couldn't even spare the energy to want to find out. My entire focus was getting to Bella in time.

"I just wanted to give you a status report. We are all fine."

"Good to know," I replied shortly.

She continued on as if she didn't hear my terse reply. "I don't know what went wrong but both Felix and Demetri were at our location. It was good for us because we had a bunch of vampires to take down. I am so glad that I decided to wear what I picked out. This tight fabric is really hard to grab hold of. Don't worry, we are all ok. A few scrapes and such, Rosalie's arm got ripped off but it's back in place and good as new."

"Anything else," I growled. There was no time for this.

I guess she finally heard the tone of my voice because she sounded jumpy when she asked, "Edward, you sound funny. What's wrong?"

"All of us are fine; let me talk to Jacob please."

I heard her call for him and a few seconds later his gruff voice sounded over the line. "Need something Cullen?"

I didn't have time for his abrupt attitude. "As much as it kills me to admit this Jake, you have a deeper connection to Bella than I. Have you felt anything off with her tonight?"

His voice was less irritating when he replied, "I got a small burst of fear from her about two hours ago, but nothing since. Why?"

"I don't know what happened but Nikolina had some sort of attack a while ago, and she is certain that Lucian is hurt."

I heard him curse shortly before I could make out Alice yelling in the background. "Lucian is hurt? That means Jasper could be too! Give me the phone Jacob…no give me the…hey let go of me…" But the rest was a garbled mess.

"I'm sure Lucian is ok. Nik has always been overly concerned with him. I will let you know if…"

But there was nothing else. "Jake," I said, looking at the face of my phone to see if the call had been severed. It was still connected and when I put it back up to my ear I heard a sharp intake of air and what sounded like panting coming from Jake's end of the line.

"I don't want to alarm you Ed, but I just got something from Bella," He panted and before I could demand answers he continued. "It's hard to breathe and it feels like my legs are numb. I don't know what happened Edward, but she isn't ok anymore."

"Are you alright though," I asked and he grunted in affirmation. "Right before Nik's attack, Lucian said that they were tricked. We are on our way to the warehouse with Jane in tow. You guys should come too. I don't know what is still there but they might need our help."

He took a few more deep breaths before replying, "I take it you found her. Is she still a pain in the ass?"

"Indeed she is," I chuckled softly.

"Good to know she hasn't changed much in the few years it's been since I last saw her. We'll be there soon Edward. If you get there first, keep Bella safe," And he severed the connection.

No one asked how anyone else was doing. The only objective was to get to that warehouse in time. The sun was hanging low in the sky now. It had to be around six in the morning. It had now been two and a half hours since Jake felt Bella's fear. And now he was feeling something else from her. If we didn't make it in time I would never forgive myself. _Hold on Bella, hold out for me. I'll be there soon._

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**Bpov**

I looked up at the ceiling from behind the filing cabinet I was hiding behind. After coming to the bright conclusion that I still had a job to do, I stealthily made my way down the hallways in search of a place to hide until I could regroup and get a hold of myself. That was how I found myself in a random office hunkering down behind a huge filing cabinet planning my next move. Krane was somewhere in the factory sneaking up on me. I was the hunted in this round which meant that I needed to find an area in the factory that would be beneficial to me when our confrontation commenced.

I also had to get Lucian's body. The thought alone made me choke back a round of sobs. There would be time to grieve later. I had no idea how I was going to manage untangling him from the chains his legs were wrapped around, but damnit, I was going to get him out of there. He would have to wait though. I would get to him after I wasted Krane.

Not to mention I still had to find Jasper. I had no clue what happened to him, but if what Kafale had said about him was true, Alice was never going to forgive me.

Another crash above me wrenched me out of my wallowing. I looked up and my eyes roved the room. I silently got up off the floor and shimmied my way to the front of the filing cabinet. I gave the top drawer a tug only to find it locked. That was no surprise.

My feet carried me around the room in search of the key. I knew the search was futile…what were the chances of the key still being here, let alone still in the room. But I searched nonetheless. I tossed books and papers to the ground and combed over every inch of the desk top. Finding nothing I turned to the desk drawers. The top two drawers turned up nothing but the remains of someone's years old rotting lunch. I gagged and pushed the drawers closed.

I pulled the last drawer open, wary of anymore rotting food. What I found was a mottled looking leather bound tome. I carefully lifted it from the drawer and placed it on the desk. Flipping through the pages, I determined that it was nothing but an old ledger of financials. Krane's family did very well up until right before they were carted off for Dachau.

I closed the tome in annoyance. Financial records wouldn't help me in the slightest. I reopened the drawer and as I was replacing the book, something clanked to the floor. I looked beneath the desk and my eyes brightened. A small key was lying in the dust on the floor. I scooped it up and headed back to the filing cabinet.

It was a long shot, and I crossed my fingers when I placed the key into the lock. And much to my surprise, the lock clicked open. But my luck seemed to run dry when all I found in the filing cabinet was more financial records and ledgers of employees past.

The top three drawers were nothing good, but the fourth seemed promising. I found what looked like basic floor plans to different buildings Krane's family owned and operated. I rifled through all the plans until I found four pages dedicated to the family factory.

After laying the pages down on the desktop, my eyes scanned quickly over them. From what I could tell, I was currently on the second floor, Lucian's body was on the main factory floor, and my jail cell had been in the basement. Offices appeared to be on the third floor. It looked like the best place to face Krane would be on the factory floor. It had the most open space despite all the assembly line equipment.

I took one last look at the floor plans before heading for the door. I made my way into the hall and headed for the stairs at the far end. I didn't know how long it would take for Krane to show up, but I would wait. If all else failed, I could make a ruckus and lure him out.

I was halfway down the hall when my back stiffened. I felt him before I heard him. But his voice was still every bit as sinister as the last time I heard it.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up." I turned around and watched as he sauntered his way down the hall toward me. "You seemed to have slowed down over the years. As I recall, you found me quite quickly the last time."

"Well, I wasn't the one calling the shots this time. I'm not after you on my own. I'm contracted this time."

"Now why would you do something like that?" He shook his head in disappointment. "From what little I know of you Isabella, I know that you hate taking orders."

"I only agreed to save myself, believe me, this is a selfish act."

His eyes bore into me and I had to quickly throw up my defenses to keep him out of my head. "You won't find her here. By now, I bet her hands are about ready to fall off. It seems you have a few nice scars of your own," He said looking at my wrists.

"I can't say that the experience was enjoyable, but they will be interesting looking." I watched as his hands traveled behind his back and my guard went up another notch. "Oh, I think you should know that we already found her."

"How could you if you have been here?" He growled at me.

I took a few steps back to distance myself from him. His movements were telling me he would attack soon. "I may have said that I am contracted out this time, but I never said I was working alone."

He took a step to follow me. "I guess that would be how you managed to escape the basement. That little blond friend of yours must have helped you, because we both know that it wasn't your other companion, unless he somehow managed to find a way to come back from the dead." He let out a small amused chuckle at the end of his taunting.

I felt another stab of pain run through me for Lucian but I managed to push it back once more. If Krane wanted to taunt me, then I was going to taunt him right back. He obviously didn't know what happened to his beloved brother. "Tell me Krane, where is your brother?" His amused laughter cut off abruptly and his eyes were cold, yet questioning. "Oh that's right; he is down in my cell with five feet of very heavy, venom coated chain wrapped around his neck."

It all happened very fast after that. Krane jumped for me and right before he collided into my chest, I saw the flash of the blade in his hand. We crashed to the floor in a heap and I felt the blade sink into the side of my ribcage. I felt my lung perforate as his hands wrapped around my throat.

All rational thought left me then and I instantly grabbed hold of his wrists in an attempt to pry his hands off my throat. It was a fruitless attempt. Krane was easily twice my size and all of his weight was currently pressed on top of me.

I tried wrapping my legs around his waist to drive the heels of my boots into his kidneys, but I couldn't get enough force behind my kicks to do any damage. I struggled a little more as my vision tunneled. My hands dropped from his and my body stilled its struggle.

Krane's hands still had a death grip on my throat and he was so focused that he didn't even realize when I wrenched the knife out of my ribs. In one fell swoop, I crossed the knife over his wrist and Krane fell off me, crying out in pain. I pried his detached hand from my throat and as Krane cradled his arm to his chest, I made a run for it.

My breathing was labored as I reached the stairwell and crashed into the door. As I ran down the stairs, two at a time, I put pressure on my knife wound to staunch the bleeding. There was so much blood; my black shirt was already sticky with it.

I burst through the door and found myself on the main factory floor. I could just barely make out Lucian's prone body across the room. I was limping my way over to him when I felt a sandbag hit me from behind.

I looked up from my spot on the floor and Krane loomed over me with both his hands firmly attached. Perhaps I should have taken the hand with me in my escape. He might have been slowed down further that way.

I scrambled to my feet just as he was reaching to grab hold of me. Biting back the pain in my ribs, I shot a roundhouse kick to his head that Krane easily dodged. He clipped me with a right hook and I stumbled back a few steps. I didn't even have time to recover before he got me again with another punch. I fell to the floor this time.

Krane towered over me as I lay on the floor clutching my chest. He looked down at me with disgust. "What happened to you Isabella? You had more fight in you last time. This isn't even fun."

My foot shot out and I knocked him off his feet. I used that little time to crawl further away from him. Krane looked over at me in surprise. "Well, now that is more like it. I guess you still have some fight left after all." He easily got to his feet. "I'll tell you what, how about I give you one free shot. You can do what you will, anything is fair game. You can kick me, punch me, pull my arm off; you can even try to kill me if you like."

My ragged breaths penetrated the quiet of the early morning. I removed my hand from my wound and looked at my fingers. They were soaked, sticky and dyed crimson. I pulled up my shirt to inspect the damage and found that the bleeding had stopped for now. It was only a matter of time before it started back up again though. This one free shot Krane was giving me would do the trick…and I knew I would be bleeding to death.

I took a few steps and was in front of him. He just looked down at me with this smug satisfied grin on his face, like he knew something I didn't. As my arm pulled back, I threw all my strength into this one hit. It should rattle him around long enough for me to rip his arms off.

My fist shot forward and one of his hands caught mine, while the other wrapped around my throat again. I started choking and he brought his face inches from mine. "Sorry, I lied." His other hand came to my throat as well and I did the only thing I could think of. I brought my knee up and made direct contact with his groin. I felt myself drop to the floor. Krane may be a vampire, but he is still a man and that was his only human vulnerability.

I made to turn and run but before I could even go a few steps, I felt his hand wrap around the ends of my braids. And before I knew what happened, I was thrown across the room. I felt every blow as I crashed through multiple pieces of factory equipment and cried out when a saw blade cut into my thigh.

I didn't even have time to look at my damaged leg before Krane was on me again. He lifted me up by my hair and gave me a rough shake. "That was a dirty move not becoming of a lady. How should I punish you for that?"

"You want to kill me…then just do it already," I rasped out before spitting in his face.

"Oh, I am going to kill you, be sure of that. But it seems like such a shame to let such a beautiful body go to waste without sampling from it first."

_This fucker is going to rape me!_ As he crashed his mouth down on mine I felt my nails dig into his cheek. He hollered in rage and tried to once again hurl me across the room. But I had a better grip on his shirt than he thought.

The force of his throw was so extensive that it shot us both across the room. We toppled over a piece of machinery and crashed to the floor in a heap. I was in pain all over and the bleeding in my chest and thigh was pooling on the ground around me. Krane got up off of me to inspect his damage and lick his wounds.

His hand was almost completely severed again and I watched as he held it in place so it could heal. He looked over at me with the most satisfied look on his face. And that was when I noticed that I didn't have anymore pain in my legs.

I looked down at my legs and noticed that my black flight pants were shredded pretty badly. While I did like these pants, they were the least of my worries. On the inside of my left thigh, right at the femoral artery, a chunk of flesh was missing and a distinct imprint of teeth remained. I looked back at him and he wore a bloody smile.

My legs were completely numb and the paralysis was moving fast. I was having an even harder time breathing now than before. How could this have happened? It never even crossed my mind that Krane might bite me somewhere in our confrontation. As the paralysis ascended further I fell back to the floor and lay on my side. All the while Krane looked at me with satisfaction.

"Don't beat yourself up too badly Isabella. I never planned on biting you. But when you put up such a good fight, I had to find a way to incapacitate you. Now you will be much easier to take." His wrist wasn't completely healed, but that didn't stop him from grabbing hold of my braids and dragging me across the floor. Krane propped me up against one of the conveyor belts and returned his focus on his wrist.

I still had some feeling left in my arms which was a good sign. Krane actually helped me by propping me up. It slowed the paralysis. As I continued to watch him I noticed that he had a bloody patch on his shoulder. My eyes traveled up and widened when I noticed that his ear was missing. A small thrill of satisfaction ran through me.

Krane turned to face me when his wrist had fully reattached it self. But I couldn't tear my eyes away from his bloody shoulder to look at his face. He noticed my gaze and looked at his arm. "What the hell," He touched his shoulder and noticed the blood. Krane then brought his hand up to his missing ear. "Well I'll be damned." His voice was impressed as he returned to the place where we fell to search for his ear.

I sat and watched as he searched for his ear praying that it would take him awhile. That way it would give Jacob ample time to get here to help me. He had to have felt my terror by now, and if not, he defiantly would be feeling the paralysis. His group was only fifty miles away…that should be enough time.

I sank back into the machine and felt a stab to my lower back. _What the hell?_ I reached my hand around and felt for what was poking into me. When my fingers wrapped around the cold metal of Brennor's UV gun, I almost shouted in triumph. I still had one defense left.

"Aha," Krane shouted from across the room. He bent down and picked up his severed ear off the floor. My face scrunched in disgust when he put the ear in place. He held it for about five seconds before turning around to face me.

"What are you going to do now Isabella? You have nothing left. Your little wolf friend isn't here to help you this time my dear." I felt the cold wave of stark fear wash over me.

The feeling of death is an unimaginable horror. I thought that I had felt death when my best friends moved away-leaving me alone-and I knew I had felt death once. But this, this feeling was beyond any of the torture that I thought I had known.

He looked down through coal black eyes at the pool of blood that surrounded me. And when the demon's lips pulled back from his teeth, I knew it was the end. All I wanted in that moment was to see the faces of my hero and my protector... so I could tell them goodbye.

But through this horror, a strange sense of calm determination enveloped me. I couldn't let it happen this way. It wasn't supposed to end like this…me bleeding on the floor alone. Death was inevitable one way or another. So why not do it on my terms…

"You took my brother from me…my only thread of sanity. You took it! So now, I am going to take your sanity from you Isabella. I think forcing myself on you will do the trick, don't you think?" He took a few more steps towards me and continued with his taunting. "What are you going to do Isabella?"

My fingers wrapped around the butt of the gun and I pulled it aloft. "How about I just shoot you now and get it over with!"

Krane raised an eyebrow and continued to walk towards me. He let out a small chuckle when he reached me. "Why must you brandish that little toy around and shame yourself more than you have too? You and I both know that your little gun won't kill me."

I nodded my head in agreement. "No it won't kill you…but it will defiantly cause you some serious discomfort."

"I have been shot plenty of times little one, and believe me, a bullet won't stop me from taking you."

He stepped closer and when his steeled toed boot came into contact with my stomach, a shrieking cry rang out through the abandoned warehouse.

Krane fell to the floor screeching in pain. I dropped the gun and coughed up blood before I pulled myself over to him. He didn't even notice my movements. As I pulled myself up to his head I glanced down at him and what I saw startled me. From inside the multiple bullet wounds, he glowed a milky blue as the UV permeated his tissues.

I tore my gaze from the hypnotic sight and grabbed hold of his head. I cleanly ripped his head from his shoulders and dropped it to the floor. I dug through my pockets and pulled out my lighter. With my dwindling strength I pulled myself away from the body. My breathing was ragged and shallow as I flicked open the lighter.

My vision tunneled and with the last of my strength, I tossed the lighter at him. Before my eyes went dark I saw the purple flames lick up the machines he was sprawled in front of. It was finally over…and I let the darkness take me.

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**Reviews make me update faster...you also get a sneaky peaky at the next chapter...TOODLES...**


	12. Abacus

**Last Chapter, Enjoy...ONWARD...**

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of our favorite faces...but I do own Lucian...and that makes me smile...R.I.P. good buddy...**

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**Hunter's Map**-----Fionn Regan

_Who was that fox caught in that trap, laid with hunter's map_

**Abacus**-----Fionn Regan

_If we got it wrong, it's cause the days have no numbers_

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**EPov**

It seemed to take an eternity for us to get to the warehouse. We were on the outskirts on the other side of town about twenty miles away. It shouldn't have taken us this long but the time was nearing six in the morning and the early morning traffic was starting to pick up. By the time we reached Bella's end of town, the sun was hanging low in the sky.

Emmett hooked a sharp left and we flew down a dirt road that lead us out of the city. We traveled it for another ten minutes before I noticed three motorcycles propped up in the tree line on the right hand side of the road.

The car skidded along the muddy road and I was out the door and flying towards the entrance before Emmett even had the chance to stop the car. I heard my brother shouting after me but I didn't turn around. Bella was in danger; getting to her was all that mattered.

I reached the front entrance only to find the doors sealed shut. Even my strength couldn't get the door to budge. I pointed myself in the direction of the back and pushed forward. Emmett caught up with me as I was rounding the corner and we pushed ourselves faster.

"Edward, shouldn't we stop and think about this? I mean, they killed Lucian, Bella is somehow hurt and God only knows what they managed to do to Jasper. We don't know what we are up against here."

"We didn't know what we were up against at our location either Emmett. She is possibly dying Em, I'm not stopping for anything," I replied edging ahead of my brother.

We reached the service entrance and found it to be shut tight as well. This place was abandoned, why the industrial strength seals on the doors? Abandoned places were prone to vandalism but this was just ridiculous. Emmett moved to the door and put his entire weight behind it. The metal groaned and snapped free. A darkened hallway loomed before us.

"I'll look for Jasper, you find Bella. Esme is waiting in the car with Nikolina and Jane. Let's make this quick Brother." And he was off down the hall on Jasper's trail. I shot after him and continued on the first floor; Emmett hit the stairwell.

Bella's scent was thin, but I caught it. There was also a metallic tang to it that I couldn't recognize. I followed it halfway down the hall before I hit a dead end. There was still hallway in front of me but I must have over shot because I could smell her behind me. Turning around, I slowed my pace so as not to miss her turn again.

My feet stopped in front of a broken door and when I pushed it open, I was met with another long and dark hallway. I passed numerous doors before finding myself in the reception hall at the front of the warehouse. Her sent was faint here as well. This must have been were she came in at. How the door got sealed behind her I didn't even want to know.

I pushed open a door to what I assumed was an office off to the side of the room. The scent of death was so strong that it had me reeling into the wall behind me. I gently pushed open another door and was met with the aftermath of Alice's vision. Looking up at the two pairs of feet dangling from a support beam had me dry heaving with disgust. How could someone do this? These poor kids were brutally murdered for what? They hadn't even been drained dry. The scent of stale blood hung in the air and mixed with the acrid tang of lighter fluid. The charring on the walls was deep.

In my ninety plus years walking this Earth dead, I had never seen something horrific enough to warrant my next action. My eyes closed and I crossed myself before retreating back into the reception area.

I passed through the only open door and was hit by her scent again. It broke off and headed in two separate directions. I looked down the hall but her scent was slightly stronger in the stairwell. Me feet took the stairs two at a time.

The door opened to another hallway but one with less office doors. I didn't even need to check them. Her scent was thick further down the hall. It appeared that she had been in one of the rooms for an extended period before rushing into the hall.

I took a few more steps along her trail when another flavor hit my nose. It was defiantly vampire and mixed with it was the same tang of the lighter fluid from downstairs. After a few more feet I was over powered by Bella. Her flavor hung in the air and as I looked to the floor, I found my feet stilled in a pool of her blood. The blood trail lead further down the hall. I broke into a light jog and followed the crimson trail. Bloody handprints were plastered on the door to another stairwell and I pushed it open. Her trail continued down the stairs.

It lead me back to the main floor and into the main hub of the factory. I staggered slightly as I was assaulted by the stench of death again. My eyes raked over the floor and I caught sight of Lucian's body. The sight was ghastly. My feet took me to his side and with my close proximity, I was able to see the extent of his death. He looked to be shredded almost completely in half. His right leg was jammed into the mechanism that housed the saw blades on this conveyor belt and his top half was hanging towards the floor. I dry heaved again.

Prying my eyes away from the horrific death before me, I scanned the rest of the floor. Machines were toppled over on the far side and a soft plume of purple smoke billowed to the ceiling. That sight gave me hope. But that hope vanished when I made it to the other side of the room.

Krane's burning remnants were piled next to what looked like a guillotine. I didn't even want to know what these people were making in here. My eyes scanned the floor and found another trail of blood leading away from the burning fire. I followed the trail and found my worst fear come to life.

I don't even know how I got to her in the mess of toppled equipment. All I do know is that she was cold in my arms. "Bella, open your eyes…open your eyes," I shouted pulling her tight to my chest. I shook her a bit and was met with no response. "You cannot do this to me Isabella, do you hear me! You cannot die. I lost you once, I'm not going to lose you again! Open your eyes!"

It went on like this for an amount of time I could not register. I just kept pleading with her to keep fighting, to keep hanging on. Through my sobbing I vaguely heard people enter the room, but I didn't bother to look up. She was getting colder in my arms and her blood continued to soak my clothes.

"Please wake up," I pleaded in a broken whisper. I continued to rock her gently and I pushed her hair off her face. Even in death she was beautiful. As another sob ripped through me I felt a hand come down on my shoulder.

"Give her to me Edward," I heard him say and I hissed at him as he tried to pull my only reason for existing away from me. "Please Edward, let me see her."

I felt Emmett's strong hands pulling my arms away and I allowed him to. Once he had completely freed Bella from my grasp, I crumpled in on myself. Emmett wrapped his arms around me and held me like a child, all the while telling me things would be ok in a broken whisper.

Jacob laid Bella flat on her back on the floor and bent over her. I could smell his tears. He continued to lean over her doing who knows what, before sitting back up. He looked over at us and I could see the pain and fear evident in his eyes. "She is alive, but barely. Krane bit her. With how bad she is, she needs to get to the compound two hours ago. I don't know if she is going to make it."

Emmett pulled out his phone and I assumed, was dialing our father. It didn't matter though; Jacob said she was still alive. That was all that mattered. I watched as Jacob pulled out a pocket knife and drug the blade across his skin. He held his wrist up to Bella's mouth and gently massaged her throat to get her to swallow. I had no idea why he was feeding her his blood but there must have been a reason.

Emmett was still rocking me back and forth when he said that Carlisle had called the flight crew back in Italy. The plane would be here in about an hour. With this news, Jacob cut his other wrist and repeated the process of feeding her.

I looked up at my brother and barley was able to choke out my question. "Jasper?"

"He is fine. I found him on the top floor in the hallway. He took a pretty bad beating. Both his legs had been ripped off and it looked like he took a bomb to the chest. I got him down to Carlisle and the others and he is healing up right as rain. Don't worry about him."

"That is good to know," I replied turning my attention back to Jacob and Bella. "Why are you doing that to her Jacob?"

He looked up from his ministrations but kept his hand moving on her throat. "As her protector, my blood has healing qualities that only work on her. It isn't enough to save her though. I'm just hoping that it will be enough to keep her alive until we can get her to the compound. She's been bitten and vampire venom is almost always a death sentence to a Durang. The skin on her wrists has been burned away as well which indicates she was restrained by something coated in venom. We have the antidote in the med station at the compound, but with the extent of her condition, I don't know if she is going to make it through the flight."

He turned back to feeding her and I righted myself, pulling out of Emmett's hold. "She is going to be alright. She has to," I said with finality.

"I pray to God you are right this time Cullen," Jacob replied pulling his wrist away from her lips. His blood brought a bit of color back to her face, but she was still so pale from the blood loss.

I pulled her back into my arms and rocked her back and forth. After about five minutes I picked her up and we walked her out of the carnage and into the crisp morning air. It had started to rain. Alice and Esme broke down when we reached them. Rosalie hung her head and Carlisle wrapped his arms around me from behind. Demetri and Felix were huddled around Jane and were on their phones, presumably with their bosses.

Jacob checked on Nikolina quickly before making his way back into the warehouse. He was gone for a long time. I kissed Bella's forehead and turned my eyes to the sky. I would keep them there until I could find our plane. It was about another ten minutes before it crested the horizon and another fifteen before it landed five hundred yards away.

Jacob was coming out of the warehouse when the plane landed. He was carrying a bloody bundle in his arms. I was glad he had the hindsight to get Lucian's body. As much as I didn't care for him, he was still a soldier and deserved all the trappings of a proper military funeral.

We loaded our wounded and dead into the cabin and took to the air headed for the Canadian tundra. It would be a six hour flight. All I could do was pray to anyone who would listen to keep Bella alive until we could get her there.

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I couldn't find the relief that our private plane usually afforded me. The luxurious leather seats and crisp climate control always helped ease away any tension I felt. But not this time. I could find no relief on this trip. Six hours never seemed so long.

We were about three hours into the flight when Bella's bleeding started back up. I didn't notice it at first, but once the front of my already stained jeans grew damp, I glanced down to find only more horror. I lifted my head. "Jacob."

He took one look at us and was at my side in an instant. "What happened," he barked at me, assessing her condition.

"I don't know, she just started bleeding again. What can we do?"

"Not much; Dr. Cullen, could I borrow you for a minute?" He asked quickly as he tore the remaining sleeve off of his t-shirt.

"What can I do," My father asked, already in doctor mode. His face was a mask of calm, but in his eyes I saw the fear. I'm sure it mirrored mine.

"Edward, I need you to keep a tight hold on her head. This is probably going to wake her up and it won't be pleasant for her. Dr. Cullen, please give me your belt."

Carlisle removed his belt and handed it to Jacob who instructed him to take hold of Bella's bleeding leg. I watched as he wrapped the belt around her leg in what I assumed would be a makeshift tourniquet after placing his folded up sleeve on her open wound.

Jacob let out a shaky breath and in an instant had cinched the belt tight around her thigh. Bella's eyes opened and her head jolted in my hands, and right before I heard her scream, I heard the sickening crunch of the resetting of her leg. Her head thrashed a bit and she promptly passed back out.

"Thank you both, I know that must have been difficult to watch. Alice, you can open your eyes now." I looked to my sister who had her eyes clamped shut and had both of her ears covered. Esme's arms were wrapped tight around her in comfort.

"What else can we do Jacob," Carlisle asked wiping his bloody hands on his shirt front.

"There is nothing any of you can do. All I can do is give her more of my blood and pray that she can hold on until we can get her to the compound and find her the antidote."

"Have you recovered enough from the last time you fed her," I asked. It had only been a few hours; certainly he couldn't have regenerated his blood that quickly.

"No, but it is my job to keep her alive," He said digging the blade of his pocket knife across his wrist again. I saw him wince a bit before bringing his wrist to her mouth. He massaged her throat to get her to swallow.

Jacob finished his ministrations on Bella and returned to his place beside the sleeping Nikolina. She looked haggard and weary even while she rested. I watched as he gently stroked her face and brushed his fingers through her hair. The love he felt for her was palpable. I didn't need Jasper's ability to figure it out.

I returned my attention to the broken woman in my arms. She looked so fragile. "Jacob, how come only her head moved when you cinched the belt? Shouldn't her entire body have gone into spasms?" I asked puzzled.

"She's paralyzed right now Edward," My eyes grew wide at his answer. "Vampire venom first paralyzes the muscles in a durang's body to allow the vampire to do as he or she pleases. Normally the vampire would just drain the durang dry but in Krane's case he couldn't get that far before Bella killed him. Along with the paralysis, venom acts as a poison, and it is currently eating away at her organs.

"The only antidote is the blood of the one durang that somehow wasn't affected by vampire venom. We don't know what went wrong with him but we are forever in his debt. Before he died, he made the company promise to create an antidote from his blood. It has been on ice in the infirmary for 120 years now. It has only been used twice in the past. Ironically enough, Bella has had it before." Jacob went on to explain Bella's last encounter with vampire venom and the mission that had gone horribly wrong.

I tuned him out after awhile. I didn't want to think about anything other than the woman in my arms. I felt for her pulse and found it beating in her neck. It was shallow and random, but it was there. She was still alive, if only just.

It was about twenty minutes later when I felt the plane descend. Everyone on board seemed to visibly brighten with our impending arrival. Jacob dug his phone out of his pocket and had a hurried conversation. I didn't bother to try and listen in. I knew it must be with his associates in the compound. I pulled Bella tighter to me. "We are almost there Bella. Just hold on a little longer darling," I whispered before placing a light kiss on her forehead.

We touched down shortly and as soon as the door was opened and the stairs were being lowered, I saw a team of six, all in white coats, rush out towards us. They were pushing two stretchers. Jacob was off the plane first and was settling Nikolina onto the first stretcher. My family followed him and I brought up the rear with Bella in my arms. I was immediately surrounded and I felt Bella being lifted out of my arms. I wanted to pull her back to me but knew I couldn't. The six doctors rushed back to the menacing looking building in front of us. The metal door closed with a resounding crash.

"They are taking her to surgery. I filled them in on everything while we were still in the air. Right now, I need to take you all into receiving and get you checked in. It has been awhile since the compound has had outside visitors. This should be interesting," Jacob said as he herded us all to the other side of the campus. He paused mid stride after only a few short steps. "Felix, Demetri, thank you for all you have done, but I cannot allow you to continue on with us. You understand right; as much as I know you don't give a rat's ass about what Aro wants, I cannot allow you into the compound."

"It is no problem Jacob," Demetri replied as he pulled out his phone.

"Please let us know how things turn out," Felix said as he took hold of Jane's hand. Jacob nodded his head and the three quickly shot off into the distance.

It was rather disconcerting how hard Jacob had to fight the woman at the reception desk. After about fifteen minutes of constant arguing, she finally heaved a heavy sigh before passing over seven sets of packets that we had to fill out. "You owe me for this Jacob," She grumbled before picking up the phone.

We all quickly filled out the forms and handed them back to the woman behind the desk. She typed something into her computer and her printer kicked on. A sheet of name tags was spit out and she rather slowly broke them apart and placed them in the clear covers we were to attach to our shirts.

After we were all properly identified, she pressed a button and a door to the far right opened. Jacob led us into a narrow hallway that ended with an elevator. He punched a code into the keypad and the elevator doors opened. We piled in and he hit the button for level three. I fidgeted on the long ride up.

When the doors opened I was accosted by the sterile smell of a hospital. Beds lined the walls and a lone nurse sat her desk on the computer. Nikolina was sleeping on one of the beds near the back. The rest of the room was deserted. Jacob made his way over to the nurse and spoke with her. He came back to us a few minutes later.

"Bella just got out of surgery. They administered the antidote to her and it fought off the paralysis. They had to re-break her leg and set it properly and had to do extensive work on her wounds. When Krane got her with the knife, he perforated her lung. They were able to drain the blood and fix it but she's not out of the woods yet. The venom was in her system for so long that they don't know if she will make it through the night."

I choked on my sobs and noticed that my sisters were silently sobbing as well. My brothers and Carlisle looked determined, but Esme had a dead look on her face. "Do you think she will make it?" I asked him quietly.

"Bella is tenacious and stubborn as hell. But even I have to wonder if she is strong enough to pull through this," he replied. I noticed his fists were clenched and shaking with his repressed emotions. This was awful for him as well. The woman he was in love with just lost her teammate and he might loose his as well. He must be in agony.

I was surprised at what I did next. I couldn't explain how it happened but I found myself pulling Jacob into a tight hug. "Thank you for all you have done for her. You kept her alive when I couldn't. I will be forever in your debt."

I was shocked when he didn't push me away and was even more shocked when he broke down in my arms. His tears dampened my shirt as I held him. I'm guessing the stress of the past few weeks had finally caught up to him. He pulled himself together a short time later and we retreated to the side of the room and sat down on the empty beds to wait for Bella's doctors to bring us news.

It was ten minutes later that one appeared. "Jacob," he said softly. He shot up off the bed he was sitting on and was in front of the doctor in a flash. "Bella is in recovery right now. We had to administer another dose of the antidote when the paralysis came back. Krane's venom is powerful. Maybe it is the fact that she has had the antidote before that caused it to stop working; I'm not positive. She is stable for now but the next 24 hours will be critical. If she can pull through those then I believe she will survive. There is no telling what the long lasting effects of the venom will have on her though," he paused and clapped his hand on Jacob's shoulder. "Your blood saved her life son. Be proud," and with that he walked back through the doors he came out of.

Jacob fell back onto the bed he had been sitting on and promptly passed out from sheer exhaustion. Two hours later, Bella was wheeled out and her bed was locked in place. The nurse got up from her desk and checked Bella's vitals before motioning to us that it was ok to go to her. I was at her bedside in a flash.

There was extensive bruising to her face and she was on a ventilator. Her heart beeped rhythmically on the monitor above her head. I grasped her exposed hand in my own and gave it a soft squeeze. "You had me scared there darling. I'm still scared for you," I whispered to her, giving her forehead a soft kiss. "You fight through this and we will all be waiting for when you come back. I won't leave your side for a moment. Keep fighting my love."

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**BPov**

"I won't leave your side for a moment. Keep fighting my love." I knew that voice. It was right there at the front of my mind, but I couldn't pull it out. The voice kept saying these comforting things but they were quickly being drowned out by a high pitched beeping. Apparently I was in a hospital. I would know the sound of a heart rate monitor anywhere.

I must have fallen asleep again because I couldn't hear anything for a while. I was pulled back by someone prodding at my stomach. I wish I could open my eyes to see who it was. I wish I could form the words to tell them off for waking me up.

It was sometime later when I felt the light heat from the early morning sun hit my face. My eyes fluttered and everything was blurry when they opened fully. After blinking a few times, the room cleared and I could finally make out where I was. The medical bay in the compound? How did I get here? I figured I would have been in some hospital in Poland.

I looked to my left and found Jacob slumped in the chair next to my bed passed out cold. I looked to my right and found Nikolina hooked up to monitors like I was. After returning to my original position everything came rushing back; Lucian, Kafale's betrayal, Krane's attack and subsequent death. Had it all only happened last night? It seemed like too much for just one day.

I felt a soft squeeze to my hand, but I couldn't pry my eyes open to see who held onto it. I could hear murmuring all around me but I couldn't make out what was being said. The soft hand in mine was anchoring me to where I lay as the memories from the other night came back to me. I could hear the monitor behind me beep faster. Was I having a nightmare? Were the grisly images flashing before my eyes nightmares and not memories? Was that my heart beeping so fast behind me?

The soft grip on my hand was pulled away and I felt a cold presence lean over me. They prodded at my wrist for a bit- perhaps checking my pulse for themselves. I felt hands touch my head and there was a slight pressure to them. The dull murmuring from before began to take on a more coherent form and from what I could tell, it sounded almost…frantic?

Another voice chimed in and cut off the frantic voice. "Checking…brain wave…risen…Delta to Beta…still out…good sign." Everything was so garbled but the last two words I could make out were slightly comforting. "Good sign", meant that I had to be getting better right? There was more poking at my head and garbled voices that slowly faded out.

My face was warm again. If everything in my body weren't so heavy, maybe I could open my eyes to check out what I was sure to be a beautiful sunrise. I didn't know how long it had been since I got here but this was the second time my face had felt warm. So I'm guessing it has only been two days since everything happened. Three tops.

_Alright Bella; its time to rejoin the world of the living. You have been milking this thing long enough!_ Ok subconscious, if you say so.

My eyelids fluttered as I forced them open. It was bright…almost too bright. My head hurt. My mouth hurt. I hurt. My throat was raw and I was hungry. How long had it been since I fed last?

I shifted my hand as I groped blindly for the clicker that would summon the nurse on duty. Maybe she could tell me if I had been fed recently. As my hand fumbled around on the bed I caught movement in my periphery. I turned my head to look towards the movement and my eyes fell on the mop of hair that I had grown to love again. He was facing away from me looking out the window at the rising sun. It was weird to see him in the sunlight and not see him glitter.

The compound used a chemically altered type of glass in the windows to block out UV light. There were a few of the Ethos species that reacted to UV in the same manner as the Vascilli reacted. The compound just so happened to have a few of those unfortunate Ethos living and working here. Precautions had been installed when the first Ethos moved in two years ago.

I wanted to get his attention but my throat was too dry to make any noise. So I shifted around in my bed in the hopes of getting him to turn around. I must have made a sufficient amount of noise because his head whipped in my direction. I wiggled my fingers at him and before I could even blink, Edward was by my side grasping my hand in his. It was a familiar grip and it was then that I realized that it had been him holding my hand this entire time.

"Thank the lord you are awake," He whispered before he brushed his lips on my forehead. "You had me scared to death…or as close as I can get to death I guess," he added offhandedly.

I opened my mouth to respond but all I could feel was a powerful burning. "No, don't try to talk. The doctors had to intubate when you went into surgery. After you came out, you still weren't breathing so they had to leave you on the ventilator." So that was the raspy sounding thing behind me. In all my stays in the hospital, I had never had to be on one of those. So this was a new experience for me…can't say I enjoy it too much.

I turned my head and caught sight of Nikolina sleeping next to me. Edward took my hint and explained. "Nikolina got a call from Lucian saying you had been tricked. Before he could finish I guess he got ambushed. And then all of a sudden Nikolina collapsed to the ground and started convulsing almost. The doctors say that she will be alright physically but Jacob informed me that she basically lost a piece of her soul when Lucian died." I nodded my head in conformation. I knew all about what happened when either a durang lost his or her protector, or vice versa. The bond that ran between us transcended everything. It was almost like our souls melded together. So when either of us dies, a piece of the other's soul dies with us. It is mine and Jake's biggest fear.

I felt tears roll down my cheeks. Partly for Nikolina but mostly for my Lucian. We had been so mad at each other. I wish things could have been right with us before this happened. Hell if I was wishing for stuff, I wish my friend was still here.

"I know it hurts right now Sweetheart, but the pain will get easier," Edward whispered to me. I nodded my head as he pressed his lips to my forehead once more. "Jacob is a few floors below us doing something in one of the research labs and the rest of the family is outside. Would you like to see anyone?"

I lifted one finger and was happy when Edward understood that I wanted to see Jacob. "I'll go get him; he has been so worried about you." He kissed the corner of my mouth and I desperately wanted the tube out of my throat so I could kiss him properly.

I watched his retreating form until he disappeared from my sight. I turned to face Nikolina once again and just stared at her. Her skin was ashy and her closed eyes were sunken in. I felt my heart clench again for her. Apart from the ashy pallor, she was flawless. There wasn't a scratch on her which made me happy. At least she hadn't gotten hurt in this ordeal. I lifted my hand and reached across the open space between our beds and griped her hand in mine. My arms were so heavy that the effort drained me. I managed to give her hand a slight squeeze and I tried to smile when I felt her hand squeeze back.

The next thing I knew, Jake was climbing into the bed with me and had his arms wrapped gently around my waist. I felt him lay his head on my chest and my eyes widened when I heard him growl at me. "Don't you ever do that to me again."

I dropped my hand on his head and gave him a good pat. I hope he understood my meaning behind it. "I forgive you, you know," He joked, and I tried smiling again. "I knew we were in over our heads on this one. But you handled things like a pro. And you did a nice job on Krane by the way."

I wanted to laugh but it burned my throat again. "Did Edward tell you about the ventilator?" Jake asked looking up at me.

I nodded my head and Jake returned his head to my chest. "Good, I didn't want to have to explain it to you." I gave his head a right good slap and he chuckled, jostling me around. My eyes squeezed shut in pain. Jake felt me stiffen and immediately apologized and shifted so he was propped up next to me.

I moved my hand around on his palm for a bit. "Do you want some paper to write on," He asked and I nodded my head. Jake leaned over and grabbed a pen and a pad of paper off the bed side table.

He dropped the pad in my lap and placed the pen in my right hand. I began scratching at the paper. _"Has it really only been three days since everything happened?"_

His eyes widened a bit when he read my question. "Bells honey, it has been three weeks."

My hand scratched furiously at the paper. _"What??!! How is that possible?"_

"The damage to your lung was pretty severe. The doctors were able to get it fixed but the strain the venom caused on your body dropped you into a coma. You have been out cold for three weeks honey."

Well that explained the garbled conversation I head before. Delta to Beta indicated I was hooked to a brain wave monitor. "We had quite the shock there a few days ago. You had been happily floating along in Delta wave sleep and then all of a sudden you spiked. Dr. Richert said you spiked to what looked like wide awake alpha waves, but you didn't open your eyes."

My hand rushed across the paper. _"I guess I was having a nightmare. Everything that happened came rushing back and I watched in vivid clarity, Lucian die in my arms again."_

"I will never understand what you had to go through, and I never want to understand it. I never want to know what Nik went through. I felt my legs numb out Bella," His voice broke and I watched as a few tears rolled down his cheeks. "Please don't ever do that to me again." I shook my head and he wrapped his arms tighter around me.

We stayed like that for a few minutes before we heard the door open. I watched as Dr. Richert moved his way towards me and I gave a smile again when I noticed the family scurry in after him. I tried hard to not laugh when Alice marched up to us and forcibly pulled Jake out of the bed and hopped into his place. I gave her a squeeze when she hugged me.

"I am glad to see you awake Miss Swan. I was beginning to think you didn't want to see me," He teased and gave me a quick wink. Dr. Richert had been the one to fix me up these last six years. Out of everyone at the compound, he was by far my favorite.

I grabbed the pen and paper again and scrawled out my reply. _"Why would I not want to see those sexy blue eyes."_

He laughed when he read my response. "Always the flirt. Alice, could I have you get down so I can look her over."

"No problemo," Alice gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before jumping down and scuttling over to Jasper.

"Okay, lets check out those stitches shall we," He said and I felt his cool fingertips brush up under my night shirt. My eyes shot to Edward and I smiled at his glare. I so wanted to stick my tongue out at him right now just to piss him off more.

Dr. Richert's fingers probed the stitches for a bit and he replaced my nightshirt. "They look marvelous. I love my work. I bet you want that tube out, right Hun?"

I nodded my head fervently. He chuckled and said, "Well alright then. This is going to be uncomfortable. I am going to have to turn the ventilator off before I can extubate. I want you to take a big breath in and hold it. Can you do that for me?"

I nodded in response.

"Alright, I'll tell you when to hold your breath," Dr. Richert said. He turned his attention to the ventilator and after about five seconds he said, "Okay Bella, big breath in and hold it." I did as he requested and watched as he flipped the switch, turning off the machine.

I closed my eyes when Dr. Richert turned toward me. I was pretty scared at what this would feel like. I had watched my fair share of doctor shows and every time someone was extubated while awake, it looked quite uncomfortable.

I felt a hard tug and then something was scratching up my throat. I instinctively exhaled the breath I had been holding and started to slightly panic when I couldn't take in any more oxygen. But just as soon as the scratching began, it ended and I wound up coughing quite a bit.

After getting me some water and explaining in full detail everything they had to do to fix me, Dr. Richert left my side to go do whatever it was he did when not working on a patient. I drank my fill of water and dropped my head back to my pillow. After breathing out a tired sigh, Esme spoke up, "How about we let Bella get some sleep? You have been through a lot today."

I leaned my head into her hand as she brushed her fingers through my hair. "Apparently I have been sleeping for three weeks. I don't want to sleep anymore."

"You need it though Darling," Carlisle replied, giving my hand a squeeze. "You need to rest so you can get better."

"We'll be back in a few hours Bella," Alice said before giving me a kiss on the cheek.

Everyone hugged me while saying their goodbyes. I watched as they all left the room. Edward stayed by my side until everyone was gone. "I guess I should let you sleep."

"I can sleep with you here. Don't leave," I said softly as I began to feel my eyes droop. "There is still more I want to say to you."

He smiled radiantly at me before brushing his lips against my temple. "Fire away."

"How badly did you get hurt?"

He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "I don't want to upset you."

I gave him a pointed stare and he caved. "It was pretty bad. I managed to kill all my targets but I ended up getting a pipe stabbed through my arm and a compound fracture in my leg. And I think I lost at tooth at some point."

I raised my eyebrow at him. "That's not bad," I said in disbelief. Edward looked at me like I was insane. "I almost died Edward. A pipe to the arm and a broken leg is nothing. Man up you wuss!"

He sent me a playful glare before climbing into bed with me. We lay there for a few minutes quietly. I relished each and every kiss he pressed to my temple and each time he ran his fingers through my hair.

I had been wondering this ever since Dr. Richert explained the precarious situation I was in. But I didn't ask him about it because I knew I would break down and I didn't want to do that in front of everyone. "Edward," I asked. He hummed in reply. "Dr. Richert said they had to administer a second dose of the antidote because the paralysis came back."

"Yes, apparently it was a pretty scary ordeal. They still don't know the exact reason why the first dose didn't do the job."

My voice was quiet and it cracked a little. "I don't think the second round worked either."

"What, why?" Edward's voice sounded slightly panicked.

I felt the tears slide down my cheeks. "If it worked, why can't I move my toes?"

Edward wrapped his arms around me tighter and rocked me as I cried. "Shhh, Bella. Don't cry; it will be okay. Your body was put through hell. We are lucky that you even survived. It breaks my heart that the doctors don't know for certain how well you will recover. But your body is still recovering. You will walk again. I have faith in that."

I started crying harder then. "What am I going to do if I don't recover? What if I can't walk?"

"Then you will be the most beautiful paraplegic to ever roll across the Earth," He whispered as he continued to rock me gently.

He remained quiet as I continued to cry. Eventually my tears subsided and I breathed out a sigh. "Do you feel better now?" Edward asked as he brushed my bangs out of my face.

"A little."

"Good, I'm glad. Now get some sleep," He whispered.

"Will you stay with me?" I asked as I buried my head in his chest.

"There is no place else I want to be."

"Good," I replied as I felt my eyes droop closed. Edward ran his fingers through my hair and began to hum a tune I hadn't heard in ten years. But it had the same effect as it always had. And right before I fell asleep I whispered, "I love you. I just thought you should know."

* * *

It was freezing outside and the snow billowed around me in the wind. But I didn't care. This was something I had to do, and a little snow wasn't going to stand in my way. It did make it slightly harder though. The wheels of my chair were harder to push; a trip that should have taken ten minutes took thirty. But I made it nonetheless.

The rounded marble was cool underneath my hand as I laid two Onze-Horas flowers on his tombstone. Since he couldn't be buried in his homeland, I at least wanted him to have a small piece of home on his grave.

They held off having Lucian's funeral for as long as they could, hoping for me to wake up so I could be there. But after two weeks it was time to finally lay his body to rest. I was told that it was a beautiful and traditional military service. Exactly like he would have wanted. Nikolina gave a moving eulogy and broken down during it, along with all the other members of the organization that cared for Lucian like she did. It was beautiful apparently. And when they lowered him into the ground, it started to rain; almost as if the sky mirrored everyone's emotions. I wish I could have been there.

Edward had wanted to come out here with me, but I told him to stay behind. I was going to say goodbye to my best friend…this was something I wanted to do on my own. My hand continued to rest on the headstone. "I always figured I would be the first to go," I said softly, "I mean with as accident prone as I am. It is so weird that you are not here; I don't know how to feel right now. I guess maybe I don't want to know how to feel right now. If I don't know how to feel, then I can avoid the pain for a little while longer," My voice broke and tears started rolling down my cheeks.

"It ended so badly. I wish we hadn't been fighting and I wish things could have been different between us. I should have handled the situation with Edward better. But I guess that was our downfall; communication was never a strong suit between you and I," I said giving a short laugh. "I never planned on falling back in love with him Lucian. I was hell bent on getting through this school year, graduating and then never having to see them again. But like it always does with me, things went nuts and my plans were shot. I don't know how it happened and I didn't want it to happen, but it did. I fell in love with him again.

"Things would have been so much easier if you and I would have worked out. I loved you so much, but I guess it was the wrong kind of love. I know you loved me the right kind and it killed me to watch you suffer like that. I wish I had handled things differently. Maybe then I wouldn't have caused you so much pain. I hope one day when I finally pass on, I will meet you and you can forgive me.

"I'll take care of them; Jake and Nik. I don't know how yet, but I will. I don't know where we will go, I mean we all got kicked out of school when we took off, but we can't stay here. There are too many memories of you here and if we stay we'll still have to work and none of us want to right now. But I have faith that somehow everything will work out for us.

"You were a beautiful soul Lucian and a part of you will always stay with me. I hope you can find peace wherever it is that you are. You deserve it. I will love you always. And I will miss you," I finished my lament and placed my lips to the glassy marble of his tombstone. "Goodbye my friend," and with that I turned my chair around and rolled back towards the compound.

* * *

My arms shook and beads of sweat rolled down my face and neck with the strain. I was in so much pain. "Come on Bella, one more time. Turn around and walk back to me."

_Dumb bitch!_ A week after I woke up from my coma I was dumped into rounds of very intensive physical therapy. I had been in it for two months now and had only regained partial movement in my lower half.

"Don't make me do it Lexie. I am so tired right now," I panted out as I held myself up on the parallel bars.

"I know you are Bella, and that is why I am only making you come back. Get over here and we can finish," She replied encouragingly.

I nodded my head and gritted my teeth before turning my body around. It took a tremendous amount of effort but I managed to move my feet towards my therapist. My wrists were dying from the strain of holding my weight for so long, but I was able to hold out. One foot in front of the other and after about five minutes, I made it back to Dr. Sanderson and collapsed to the floor in exhaustion.

I sat myself back up and Dr. Sanderson worked me through my cool down stretches and helped me back into my wheelchair. "You did fantastic today Bella."

"I hate this. I put myself through all this pain four times a week and it is getting me nowhere!" I panted out as I pouted in my chair.

"You can't say that Bella. You may not see it yet, but you have improved so much in the last two months."

"I can only make it down and back those parallel bars four times before collapsing. That is not good Lexie!"

She regarded me carefully for a bit. "When I first met you, you couldn't even get out of your chair. It took two people to get you up and standing. Now, you can stand and walk, albeit slowly, all on your own. That is outstanding for only two months of rehab!"

I dropped my head in shame. I was pouting like a baby and I knew I shouldn't. "I know all this Dr. Sanderson I do. I just wish I was further along."

Lexie dropped to her knees in front of me and placed her hand on my knee. "You had a traumatic injury. This isn't like when you dislocated your elbow. This is rebuilding half of your body. Be proud that you are even this far along. It's going to take time Bella. But if you stick with it and work hard in time, you will walk normally again. You will be able to run and jump and do everything you were able to do before you were bitten. Just stick with it and it will be okay."

I looked up at her and smiled. "I'm sorry for pouting; I'm just frustrated is all. Thank you for all you have done for me."

"Anytime," she replied as I rolled my chair towards the door. "I'll see you on Friday Bella. We'll talk about new therapists then."

I tossed her a wave over my shoulder as I rolled myself out into the hallway. I was halfway down when I saw Edward round the corner heading my way. "Hey, you're done early today."

"Yeah, Lexie took it easy on me today," I replied smiling at him as he reached me.

"Is that right," he asked bending down and pressing his lips to mine.

When we broke apart I replied, "No, she was brutal. I pouted and was able to get out early.

Edward narrowed his eyes at me and said, "Bella, you know you need this."

"I know; you don't need to lecture me. The workout was the same length as always; my cool down didn't take as long this time."

"Well good, I don't want you slacking off. I want you walking again," He said as he pushed me down the hallway towards my room.

"So I have news for you," I said looking up at him. He raised his eyebrows in question. "I did the bars four times today."

His eyes lit up brightly. "That is awesome Sweetheart. I'm so proud of you," Edward praised before kissing the top of my head.

"I'm happy too. Dr. Sanderson and I are going to talk about finding me a new therapist back in Pullman. I'm hoping I will be well enough to go back to Pullman in a month. That way I will have the summer to continue with therapy before classes start again in August."

"So you decided on going back to WSU?"

"Yeah, I started there and I want to finish there. Maybe this time I will actually get to," I replied laughing. "I left the decision up to Jake and Nik really. They said they wanted to go back to Pullman, and since we only missed one semester, we didn't have to reapply."

"Well that will make Esme happy. She loves the house we have there. She will be glad to know that we won't have to move again."

"Is it going to be cloudy enough again this year? It was weird last year."

"Alice says yes."

"Then I guess you are in luck," I replied as Edward opened the door to my bedroom. He pushed be over to my bed and helped me out of my chair and into bed. After I was situated he climbed in next to me.

"I would be lucky even if the weather wasn't in our favor," Edward said softly as he pulled me to him. I looked up at him in confusion. He smiled at me and ran his fingers through my hair. I felt my eyes start to droop as he said, "No matter where I am, as long as I'm with you, I'm lucky."

* * *

**Epilogue left to come...I'll try to get it writen and posted soon. No promises though...Toodles...**


	13. ChuBura

**Here you go all. Hunter's Map is officially closed. I had a lot of fun working on this little ditty and I hope you all enjoyed reading it. I have posted the playlist of all the chapter titles on my profile. The only ones that are missing are Let that be Enough by Switchfoot and The Wreckage by Vanessa Carlton. So one last time...ONWARD...**

**DISCLAIMER: I own none of our favorite faces...but I do own Lucian...and that makes me smile.**

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**Hunter's Map**-----Fionn Regan

_Who was that fox caught in that trap, laid with hunter's map_

**Epilogue **

**Chu-Bura**-----Kelun

_Kimi no te wo nigitte, monogatari wa hajimaru (so we'll join hands, and a new story will unfold)_

* * *

"Only one more seat left. Don't close, don't close, please don't close," I muttered as my fingers flew across the keys. "And done, yes!"

"So I take it you were able to get into fencing," Emmett said, looking up from the book he was reading.

"Yep, the last spot was just filled by your's truly," I replied as I logged out of my school account. I was only short eight credits since I was unable to complete the semester last fall. Eight measly credits! Couldn't I get a pass or something, after all the shit I had to do; didn't I deserve some sort of a hand out?

"Cool beans; now I can sword fight you and not have Rosie tell me I'm acting like a five year old. Bells, you know what we should do; we should show up to class dressed like pirates. That would be epic!"

"Sounds good, I already have an eye-patch," I replied as I got up from the desk and hobbled my way over to the couch. I grabbed Emmett's Wiimote and hit the power button. The Indiana Jones theme began to play and I smiled wide at the prospect of getting to punch things and make them explode into piles of Leggos.

I had one more hour before I had to get into town for my last physical therapy appointment. It felt so wonderful to be done. I had progressed so much after leaving the compound and getting back to Pullman. I guess it was probably the fact that I was home that made my recovery so much easier. Dad and Mom sure didn't take the news well though.

Granted I was in a coma for three weeks so they really couldn't hold that over my head, but once I called them and told them everything that had happened, let's just say the fan was getting hit by the shit. You were in a coma for three weeks? You are currently paralyzed? Why didn't you tell me you were leaving? I bet you told your mother! Why didn't you tell me you were leaving? I bet you told your father! What the hell is a UV gun? You are coming back to Forks now! You are coming to Jacksonville now!

Mouthful huh? I made visits to both to appease them but refused to stay. Mom would have insisted on keeping me bedridden and nursing me back to health herself. Dad would have insisted on the same thing, except…you know…I am going on this five week deep sea fishing trip, so you'd be on your own for that. Yeah, my situation I have now is _so much better_. Sarcasm anyone. I almost wished I had taken Dad up on his offer.

The entire flight home I had been looking at apartment listings for Jake, Nic and myself and it was slim pickings. Most of the leases had already gone out to all the smart kids who were able to stay in school. No, I'm not bitter at all!

But seriously, I did happen to find a few that seemed promising and had set up appointments to tour the units when we got into town. After getting Emmett to grab my duffel bag from the baggage compartment in Daddy Cullen's private plane and getting it dropped on my lap, I rolled my way across the tarmac towards the cab I had waiting.

Jake, Nik and I had made it about fifty feet before I felt the brakes getting hit on this operation. Of course Edward was the one to grab hold of my wheelchair. As much as I love him, the kid gets in the way a lot! After raising a questioning eyebrow at him I was promptly informed that I would not need to look for an apartment since I already had a room in their home.

Wonderful, I said. But this apartment was for the three of us; what about my companions? Esme humbly informed me that once we had made the decision to move back here, she immediately started work on getting a guest house built on the property. Did I say guest house? I'm sorry, I meant pool house. After glaring at her she replied "What? I can't help it if Emmett wants a pool. And I can build whatever I want on my land. You don't get to tell me what to do!" It was a very Alice-esqe response. I was a little worried about it actually.

Nikolina politely informed Esme that that didn't solve the issue of where her and Jake were going to live; to which Esme replied in exasperation, "did I not just get done talking about the pool house!"

My friends were hesitant at first about being a bother to this incredibly generous family but once they saw the sheer size of the building, they shut themselves right up. Rosalie wasn't too happy about the idea of having two werewolves living in her backyard, but when is she happy about anything?

I had just finished the last episode in the Temple of Doom arc of the game when I checked my watch. "Good lord, I am going to be late. Em, can you hand me my cane?"

"Sure thing Crutchy," He replied. No matter how many times we tried to tell him, Emmett wouldn't give up my new found nickname. I didn't really mind because I happened to find Emmett's nicknames hilarious, and Newsies was an awesome show!

I wish I could have gotten a cane that sheathed a sword but Jacob put the kibosh on that idea. He said that I didn't need anymore ways to hurt myself and having a sword would do just that. So after my hour of pouting, I settled on a miniature version of Gandalf's wooden staff in Lord of the Rings. Nerdy, I know. But AWESOME!

After hobbling to my jeep, I drove down the driveway and pointed myself in the direction of town. I arrived at my appointment just in time to see my crotchety old doctor make his way out to reception. He was in his late 70's and was bitter that his practice was being handed over to his son in the next few months. Despite his age, he was still very capable in his profession and always had me howling at the shenanigans that his son got up to in his youth. I was going to miss the old bastard.

"Bella, I love the choice of cane," He said when he saw me.

"You say that every time I come in Doctor. I get it, you like Lord of the Rings, so do I," I replied dryly as I limped my way into the workout area.

My workout was relatively light considering it was my last session. He had me jog on the treadmill for about fifteen minutes and then lead me through my strength building exercises before leading me back to the waiting room to fill out my discharge papers.

"Here is my card Bella. The next time you hurt yourself you call my personal number. I don't want you to be exposed to my son. The damn kid can't fix anything," He gruffly said as he stapled his card to my discharge papers. He held the door open for me and I replied, "I'll make sure to do that doctor."

No matter how light my workout was today, I was still wiped. As I made it back to the house, I hobbled my way across the main floor and to my bedroom. I have to admit, Esme did a wonderful job decorating the place.

My room was located in what used to be the solarium at the back of the house. I made Esme keep the red brick flooring because I thought it would be cool to have such a random bedroom floor. A window seat was nestled up against the bank of windows and shelves were built right into the walls to hold all of my books. While the room wasn't large, there was room to move around and Esme had even moved the old violin into my room. Since no one played it, it was passed on to me. I just about cried.

I pulled my heavy drapes to block out the sun and dropped face down onto the bed.

I had been thoroughly surprised that I hadn't been contacted by the Volturi again. After a lengthy phone conversation debriefing them about the situation in Poland, I hadn't heard from them sense. I had been positive that Aro would go back on his word and try again to recruit me, but I guess he either lost interest, finally decided to be a fair guy or someone had successfully held him back. My vote was for the latter. But nonetheless, it had been quite the pleasant summer. There had been rumors of another descendent that was soon to rise up so it was looking like I might either get to quit my day job or I would be getting a new partner. Maybe I could train the newbie to be even better than me. I didn't want to work with anyone besides Lucian.

I heard the raucous shouts from my family, Jacob and Nik across the house. Apparently the rest had come back from their hunting trip. I could hear Carlisle yell at Emmett for leaving the living room a mess and had to bite back my laugh. I was the one to leave the room a pit but I wasn't going to say anything. I had taken the fall for that kid one to many times. It was time for payback.

Edward ventured into my room to give me a kiss hello before he returned to the living room and to his piano. I relished in the tinkling of the keys and a giant smile flashed across my face when I heard the theme from Jurassic Park float on the air.

Edward was just getting to the crescendo of the song when my phone started ringing. I had left it on the end table across the room so I had to get up. I grabbed my cane and answered the call before it went to voicemail. "Hello," I said after not bothering to look at the caller id. I pointed my feet into the hallway.

"Good afternoon Miss Bella," replied the thick Italian accent.

"Demetri, to what do I owe the pleasure," I asked happy to hear from him. As much as I dreaded ever seeing an International number flash on my phone, I had missed talking to him. He was by far my favorite.

I made it to the couch and sat down only to immediately have Alice start playing with my hair. I swatted her hand away but to no avail.

"I'm very sorry Bella. I tried holding him off for as long as I could."

"What are you talking about Demetri?" I asked, puzzled. Every set of eyes in the room turned to look at me.

"Just that my bosses have once again decided to not play fair. They want you Bella, and this time there is no choice in the matter. Apparently you retrieving Jane wasn't equal to her kidnapping."

"I'm guessing that the fact that it wasn't my fault won't have any say in the matter?"

He sighed before replying, "I am very sorry, but no. I have been tasked to find you and bring you to Volterra. I can only give you a little warning. I am to set out in two days."

"Well, thank you for giving me the head start, I guess. I'll make sure to hide my tracks carefully. And it wouldn't hurt if you were to, I don't know; slack off on the job a bit."

I heard his laughter ring out over the line. "You have yourself a deal Miss. I look forward to not seeing you soon.

"Right back at you," I said, before hanging up. I sighed deeply before sinking further into the couch. After giving my face a good frustrated scrub, I looked up at my makeshift family. "It looks like I still get to be a college dropout."

Edward looked over at me, knowing exactly what I meant. I nodded my head. He nodded his head right back at me. We had talked about this scenario multiple times over the summer and had our plan worked out clean. I was happy to know that he still wanted to accompany me on the journey.

"So I take it the old codgers are reneging on the deal?" Jake asked as he got to his feet and moved towards the hall closet. I watched as he pulled out two duffel bags and tossed one to Nikolina.

"Yep; you would think that after two attempts, I would be able to finish at least one degree," I said in irritation.

"Don't fret Bella Bear, I have tried it six times and I still have no degree," Emmett ventured as he patted my knee.

"Am I correct in assuming that it is time for another family adventure?" Esme asked. I noticed Alice start to squirm in excitement. "Where to this time my dear?"

"I don't know. I figured we could make it up as we go along," I said grabbing my cane and getting to my feet.

After making sure that the power was shut off in the house, we all headed for the front yard. Everyone placed their bags in various cars before we all turned to look one last time at the house.

"This scene feels awfully familiar," Jasper said.

"I wish I had more time to enjoy that wonderful pool house," Nikolina sighed.

Esme placed her delicate hand on Nik's shoulder, "Don't worry Sweetheart, I can build you a better pool house wherever we end up. Everyone has their phones right?" We all responded in the affirmative. "Good. Let's not follow each other too closely. I will call you all in an hour to make sure we are heading in the same direction. How does Colorado sound for our first stop?"

"Sounds great Mom," Emmett said as he pulled Rosalie along by the hand towards his jeep. I laughed when I saw her hit him over the head and jump into her BMW, and laughed even harder when I heard him shout, "That was cold baby!"

Jake and Nik hopped into my jeep and were the second ones down the driveway. Alice and Jasper gave me a hug before climbing into her Porsche. Carlisle gave Edward's hand a shake and Esme pulled me to her. "I'll talk to you in an hour. Be safe." And with that they were gone as well.

Edward looked down at me and gave me the smile that I loved. "You ready to get the hell out of dodge?"

I chuckled a bit before saying softly, "Not really. But let's get going anyway." He took my hand and led me to his car. We made it down the drive and headed for the highway. It was bittersweet to be leaving the town where my life had finally fallen back into place. But it was time for something new. I didn't know where it would take us, but I was ready to watch this new journey unfold.

The End

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